Between Crisis Management and Global Sustainability Transformation: The Role of the European Union

Project description

The EU and its member states face a multitude of global and intra-European challenges of historic proportions. Responding to the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic as well as implementing the European Green Deal and the 2030 Agenda pose major challenges for both the EU’s internal and external action. This project explores how short-term crisis management and long-term contributions to global sustainability can be meaningfully linked in European development policy.

The research and advisory project explores the reorientation of European development policy in three work packages:

1. EU Development Policy to 2030: The integration of the European Development Fund into the EU budget and the creation of the Neighbourhood, Development Cooperation and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI/Global Europe) under the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 was perhaps the largest reform of EU development funding to date. The project examines the programming and implementation of the MFF, the role of national and European development partners in present and future financial cooperation, and other institutional dynamics in EU development policy.
2. Transformation towards sustainability - the role of EU development policy: With the European Green Deal and its commitment to a value-based digitalisation strategy, the EU Commission has presented an ambitious agenda which, together with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, requires the EU to drive transformation processes nationally and globally. The project examines the implementation of the external dimension of the European Green Deal and the contribution of internal and external EU policies to global sustainability transformation.
3. EU relations with Africa and ACP countries. With regard to the EU's cooperation with Africa and EU-ACP relations, beyond analysing the partnership's institutions and governance structures, the project specifically focuses on four thematic areas: (i) development, peace and security, (ii) good governance, democracy promotion and human rights, (iii) digitalisation and (iv) migration and development.

In addition, the project analyses the influence of intra-European dynamics on EU development policy, i.e. for example on the dynamics between EU institutions and member states or on the increasing politicisation of EU development policy.

The project works in close cooperation with the European Think Tank Group.