Developed nations are able to afford better living standards compared to developing countries. As a result, most developing countries seek to trade with developed countries in order to increase market for their products. This is also propagated by the fact that people in developed countries have a high purchasing power due to high income levels in such countries.
Moreover, each country has a moral duty to help and therefore rich countries have to assist the developing countries. Consequently, there have been efforts from the developed countries aimed at enhancing living standards of the people in developing nations (Gribb 456). European Union (EU) is among groups of developed nations that have tried to help poor countries in several parts of the world.
Though the economic and political togetherness of some European countries can be traced back to 1950s, EU under its name came into being in 1993 and it has composed of 28 member countries. The need for economic, political and other forms of cooperation was necessitated by the events that led to World War II.
After the war, it was agreed that economic cooperation between countries was likely to lead to mutual understanding and consequently avert conflicts (Molle 154).
It is important to note that EU is based on the rule of law where its operations are carried out in a democratic process with every member having an equal say on what happens. EU respects human rights throughout the globe and its member states work toward achieving this especially by observing the principle of equality.
Though basically founded to foster economic cooperation between member states, the EU has seen the removal of border restrictions between member states leading to political cooperation. Moreover, the EU has its own budget separate from those of different member states (Molle 316).
The EU also has a decision making body and can make some policies especially foreign policies on behalf of its member states. This foreign policies range from economic policies to political policies and are not only made for the benefit of its member states, but also for the advantage of the international community.
Notably, EU is the largest donor to developing countries in support of various development projects. For example, in the year 2006, 48% of EU’s €671 million budget went to developing countries (El-Agraa 476).
This can be attributed to its large number of member states as well as to its willingness to help. It is important to note that the huge number of member states forming the EU makes it highly influential in the world as far as policies towards developing world are concerned.
Since its initiation, the EU has been greatly concerned with the welfare of other nations in the world, more especially developing nations. As a result, several agreements have been signed between the EU and various developing nations. These agreements guide the cooperation between the EU and specific developing nations in the field of trade, aid and other issues of international concern.
In this regard, the foreign policy that EU formulates regarding developing nations is highly influential in development of these nations (Molle 318).
The main aim of EU’s foreign development policy is to reduce poverty in developing nations not just by giving these nations money, but also by initiating sustainable development. It should be noted that this is one of the millennium development goals. In this regard, the EU funds several development projects to increase income earned by people in developing countries.
Majority of aid to developing countries is given in form of grants. These grants are expected to be used in specific development projects. To ensure that the grants meet their expected aims, the EU has adopted the policy of conditionality in its foreign development policy. This is where certain conditions are supposed to be met for grants to be given.
The conditions may include specific projects that will be funded or the principles that should be met among others conditions (Gribb 456). Failure to meet the set out conditions can lead to withdraw of the aid or even sanctions on a country.
Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that EU’s foreign policy is founded on principles of equality, mutual respect, domestic ownership and sustainable growth. In this respect, the EU aims at formulating foreign development policies that will be in tandem with the domestic requirements of target countries. As a result, the EU tries to fit itself into development policies of various nations.
This is aimed at giving the local people power to control their own affairs. Efforts that EU takes to help developing nations include reducing the debt burden of developing nations and promoting self help poverty eradication strategies in several developing countries (Molle 320). Moreover, the EU’s foreign policy aims at aiding democratic process and enhancing respect for human rights.
Due to the dynamics in the globe regarding development projects as well as aspects of priority in several countries, the EU has had to change its development policies over the years. Anciently, EU’s development policy for developing countries was guided by The Yaoundé Agreements. These agreements emphasised on national sovereignty and offered special trade plans for signatory countries.
The agreements were comprehensive and covered most aspects in which the concerned countries needed support (El-Agraa 477). Though the agreements were advantageous to the respective countries, there were some dissatisfaction and these led to the signing of The Lomé Conventions. It was argued that there were some strong neo-colonial forces in The Yaoundé Agreements and these led to less than par economic results.
The Lomé Conventions came into being to correct the inefficiencies that The Yaounde Agreements suffered. Moreover, there was need to change the relationships due to changing economic events. Nevertheless, there was significant change in the 1990s as far as the relationships between developing nations and EU were concerned.
This necessitated reevaluation of economic policies of the EU particularly those that were concerned with developing nations. In this regard, The Cotonou Agreement was signed in the year 2000 (Gribb 460). It is more comprehensive than the past agreements and besides reducing poverty and contributing to sustainable growth, the agreement aims at ensuring full participation of developing countries in the world economy.
The agreement brought political aspects into the aid relationships between EU and developing nations. Moreover, it has underscored the importance of civil society and the private sector in development plans of every nation. However, the agreement was signed with some conditions that required involving countries to respect human rights, upholding democracy and ensuring that the rule of law is maintained.
It can therefore be depicted that the EU’s foreign policy has been changing over the years in response to changing economic needs. In 2005, the EU introduced what was termed as the “MDG” package as part of its foreign policy to developing nations (El-Agraa 493). This was aimed at helping developing countries to address challenges that are unique to each country.
The most recent dimension of EU development policies is represented by the Agenda for Change which focuses more on the changing issues regarding development in various parts of the world.
The Agenda for Change aims at ensuring good governance and democracy as well as ensuring that economic growth in any country is sustainable. Social protection, health and creation of employment opportunities are given priority. Emphasis is placed on making use of local resources in driving development of each country.
It should be noted that though the EU has highly supported developing nations in their quest to attain economic self reliance, there have been some reservations regarding various issues. To begin with, the EU imposes sanctions on countries that fail to meet specific requirements issued by the EU.
However, there are cases where member states of the EU have failed to implement the sanctions when they were supposed to do so. This has led to selective sanctioning of countries (Gribb 479). It goes without saying that this is likely to deter achievement of the expected goals of the aid given by EU.
On the same note, due to recent security threats in various parts of the globe, the EU is becoming more concerned with security of its member states. Consequently, some economists have been concerned that the EU is prioritising its interests at the expense of developing nations.
Arguably, the EU has in the recent past been concerned more on how to advance the security of its people in various parts of the world thus reducing its focus on development projects. Furthermore, there exists inconsistence as far as implementation of EU policies by member states is concerned. While some countries aim at fully implementing what has been agreed upon during EU summits, some nations do not bother.
There are countries that intentionally fail to implement EU’s principles and ideas (Molle 327). These countries do so in order to advance state interests in specific countries. This is due to the fact that different member states of the EU have varying bargaining powers despite the argument that EU is founded on the respect of rule of law.
Similarly, there has been an outcry regarding the conditionality that was introduced with the signing of The Cotonou Agreement. It has been argued that developing nations are sometimes compelled to prioritise the conditions placed in order to secure grants even when it is evident that these conditions are not a priority for the given countries.
As a matter of fact, the political conditionality leads to unequal powers between the EU on one hand and the recipient countries on the other. Using the political conditionality, the EU is able to determine what can be done it the recipient countries. This undermines the principle of equality as well as that of mutual respect which are among the main principles of the EU (El-Agraa 510).
Moreover, conditionality interferes with domestic ownership which requires that each country be given the freedom to run its internal affairs. In this regard, EU applies double standards by claiming to advance the principle of equality and self governance yet it limits the same through political conditionality.
Arguably, EU has also some difficulties merging its political commitments with its economical and other interests. It is important to note that while EU promises to support international development in various parts of the world, it has its own goals to meet too.
Security, economic affairs as well as European political interest are among the goals that EU must meet. There have been difficulties in ensuring that both international commitments and local goals are met without jeopardising either of the two.
The world is first changing not only because of globalisation but also due to research and development that has led to technological advancement. Moreover, there are several issues that are affecting the EU including the Euro Zone crisis and these are expected to affect the relationships between the EU and developing countries (El-Agraa 515).
It is important to note that the Euro Zone crisis is straining the budget of EU and this is likely to reduce the amount of money available to spend and consequently the volume of foreign aid. On the same note, emergence of China as the main trading partner of Africa is threatening the position of EU as the highest donor to developing countries.
The EU has created very good relationships with various developing countries over the years. Development of these particular nations is the main aim of the EU.
It is, however, important to note that in the recent past the EU has aimed at enhancing the principle of equality through recognition of mutual respect as well as enhancement of collective interest. There has been great effort from the EU to assist developing countries in their development programs while giving them freedom to run their own affairs.
Works Cited
El-Agraa, Ali. The European Union: Economics and Policies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.
Gribb, Richard. “Post-Lome the European Union and the South.” Third World Quarterly 21.3: 457-481. Print.
Molle, Willem. The Economics of European Integration: Theory, Practice, Policy. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2006. Print.