International development and the equation of power within the European Union

Abstract:

Within the European Union, we can talk about a high degree of power and this means that states have different capacities to reach prosperity, but they also have the capacity to help other states reach a similar degree of welfare. Development Assistance plays a very important role in the world, being offered to states which can not surpass economic, social or political difficulties.

In order to reach a certain balance at the international level, between levels of development that states possess, a fundamental need occurs: states that are economically, socially and politically left behind must receive development assistance. The present work aims to analyse the degree to which the European Union contributes to international development.

Both EU institutions and EU and OECD member states play fundamental roles on the world stage by granting funds to fragile and less developed states. Rethinking the third world might mean a restructuring of the political systems of states and of their economic systems, so that these countries become more developed and less dependent on other states. European institutions and assistance policies also need to change their way of regarding the matter of international development and of approaching the problem of poverty so that the needs of the third world states could be satisfied in an appropriate manner.

Europe has the role of transformative power because it helps the third world states develop their economies and political systems so that they could satisfy the needs of their citizens. As a consequence, these economies are transforming. They are not autarchic systems, so when we are talking about transformation, we are talking about development.