External publications

The southernization of the EU’s development policy? A critical review of the EU Global Gateway

Keijzer, Niels
External Publications (2024)

in: Stephan Klingebiel / Thomas Kalinowski / Niels Keijzer (eds), Emerging trends in International development and climate policy: a focus on Korea and Germany, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 85-95

ISBN: 978-3-031-65670-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65671-2_7
Open Access

In December 2019, the newly elected European Commission (EU) President tasked one of her Commissioners to ensure that the EU’s approach to development cooperation would evolve in line with new global realities, while contributing to the EU’s wider political priorities. Two summers and a pandemic later, the Commission announced its Global Gateway initiative. This proposal sought to strengthen the EU’s visibility and impact in the area of infrastructure investment, and committed the EU and its member states to jointly mobilize EUR 300 billion in investment during the period 2022 to 2030. This chapter discusses the emergence of this initiative in relation to the literature on the “southernization” of the OECD members’ development policies. It observes that Global Gateway has since become the defining feature in the EU’s international partnerships policy and has become ubiquitous in its public discourse. Its effects on public expectations of development policy may thus be greater than the changes in approaches “on the ground”. The chapter concludes by discussing the policy relevance of Global Gateway for the development policy and operations of Korea and Germany.