The programming of EU's external assistance and development aid and the fragile balance of power between EEAS and DG DEVCO

Abstract

The Lisbon Treaty left the question of the future organization of the European Union's external assistance and development aid largely unanswered. It was only after its entry into force on 1 December 2009 and with the adaptation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) that a major organizational revision of the EU's foreign aid was set in motion. Development - and in its extension neighbourhood - is now the crucial area of work that straddles both the EEAS and the Commission. This article outlines the dispute over the division of labour of the programming and management cycle and the tools of European external assistance and development aid. The subsequent reorganization of powers between the EEAS, the new DG DEVCO and the up-graded EU Delegations is examined and the general impact of this rearrangement on the future paths of the EU's foreign policy is tackled. The focus lies on strategic planning and programming of EU's main external action instruments for the years 2014-2020: the European Development Fund (EDF), the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the new European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI). Adapted from the source document.

The Lisbon Treaty left the question of the future organization of the European Union's external assistance and development aid largely unanswered. It was only after its entry into force on 1 December 2009 and with the adaptation of the European External Action Service (EEAS) that a major organizational revision of the EU's foreign aid was set in motion. Development - and in its extension neighbourhood - is now the crucial area of work that straddles both the EEAS and the Commission. This article outlines the dispute over the division of labour of the programming and management cycle and the tools of European external assistance and development aid. The subsequent reorganization of powers between the EEAS, the new DG DEVCO and the up-graded EU Delegations is examined and the general impact of this rearrangement on the future paths of the EU's foreign policy is tackled. The focus lies on strategic planning and programming of EU's main external action instruments for the years 2014-2020: the European Development Fund (EDF), the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the new European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI). (Adapted from the source document).