Bilateral and EU Development Cooperation: Delivering More and Better aid

This overview paper accompanies the EU policy seminar “Community or bilateral development cooperation”, which takes place on 22 October 2008 at the Netherlands Institute
of International Relations Clingendael.

It covers the topics discussed in the three sessions of
the seminar: i) The EU Code of Conduct-Experiences thus far; ii) Financing for Development- Towards Doha; and iii) Bilateral or multilateral aid.

The paper will discuss relevant policy questions and developments with regard to these topics. It will address how they affect the balance between EU and national development cooperation with regard to the principles of complementarity and coordination, and how they influence the need foreffectiveness and legitimacy of EU
development cooperation efforts.

It is realised that the topic choice is rather EU-focused, whereas development cooperation typically involves both the view points of donor and recipient countries. However, we believe that developments such as the 2004 and 2007 enlargements, a changing world order in which emerging economies play an increasingly important role, and ongoing discussions on(institutional) reform and a strengthening of the EU’s foreign policy position and its external
relations in general, justifya seminar debate on future directions in EU developmentcooperation among EU Member States and the European Commission.

In that respect it is particularly important to continue discussions on how development cooperation efforts are
shared between the EU and the Member States and how to justify and continue their financial basis.