Politicising development aid is a recipe for failure

The EU’s development aid is in danger of being politicised, says Eurostep in response to calls for the EU’s development policy to be managed within the European diplomatic service that is to be created under the Lisbon Treaty. “These calls to bring development aid together with Europe’s foreign policy will inevitably lead to development becoming part of the EU’s foreign policy “said Simon Stocker, Director of Eurostep. “When aid is politicised in this way, which was the approach of the Bush administration, development fails.”

Development policy must remain sufficiently independent of the EU’s diplomatic service for it to be able to achieve its principal objective – the eradication of poverty. The management of the EU’s development policy must remain with the Commission, outside the new diplomatic service” continued Stocker.

Ireland’s “yes” on the Lisbon Treaty has unleashed a rush to define how the EU will organise and manage its relations with the rest of the world. Next week the European Parliament is expecting to adopt a report on the structure of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the formal title of Europe’s future diplomatic service, and EU leaders are also expected to make decisions when they meet on 29 October.