EU Reconstruction Aid in Conflict States: The Foreign Policy Instruments in the Grey Area of Security and Development

The European Union maintains close relations with numerous states that are in precarious transition processes. These states and their societies are struggling to leave the legacy of war and violence behind them, but nevertheless remain far from achieving the long-term stability they seek. In many cases, state institutions have either limited capacity, or none at all, to deliver basic services like those associated with security, health or social security.

International assistance aimed at overcoming these transition processes is primarily supposed to contribute to reconciling political disputes, restoring state services and stimulating social and economic development. In this sense, reconstruction aid plays an important bridging function between short-term crisis management and long-term development cooperation. It therefore falls into the tense grey area of security and development.

To what extent will the European Union succeed in satisfying these demands? At the core of this analysis are the EU financial instruments primarily oriented towards development policy (the European Development Fund and the Development Cooperation Instrument) as well as the Instrument for Stability. The new legal framework established by the Treaty of Lisbon, the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the negotiations that have been ongoing since the summer of 2011 over the next EU financial framework present opportunities for tackling the problems related to European reconstruction aid.