“Twenty years ago we could still think that the whole world depends on Europe and the United States for its development, for its improvement of the lot of poor people. Right now, we are in a situation where Europe actually depends more on the world for its own growth, its economic and social development, than the other way around”, says Paul Engel, Director of ECDPM, in this Talking Points audio clip. This also impacts on the way that work is done in international cooperation. “And we now have Southern partners who are increasingly vocal about their own wishes, their own rights, and their own plans [...] that makes international cooperation the more interesting, vital and dynamic” Engel says. Read more...

In parallel with the European Commission’s new policy Communication “Maximising the Development Impact of Migration” which provides the basis for an eventual European Union common position in the UN High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, a new report from ECDPM and ICMPD examines the scope of migration and development policies, the underlying concepts and principles and the institutional frameworks across 11 countries in Europe and the EC. It also assesses the steps that have been taken to ensure intra-governmental policy coherence. Read more...

The European Union has a long history and rich experience as an actor in mediation and dialogue from its recent high-level work regarding Kosovo-Serbia to supporting grassroots work in the Philippines.  However, despite EU experience illustrating a ‘glass half full’, the breath and depth of this engagement in mediation and dialogue is not entirely recognised.  ECDPM in a recent report conducted for the European External Action Service looks at lessons learnt in EU mediation and dialogue revolving around, understanding context and adapting to it, getting the EU's own family in order, making the most of partnerships, and moving from ad hoc approaches to international best practice. Read more...

The EU has continued to be criticised for low visibility on external action, and now the European Parliament is asking for the issue to be dealt with in the Review of the European External Action Service (EEAS). ECDPM’s Andrew Sherriff discusses findings from a recent evaluation of EU visibility that are relevant for the Review. The evaluation revealed a need: to lower expectations and communicate outcomes, have better leadership and direction, to share visibility with global partnerships and adapt to specific countries and policy communities. Resources were found to be adequate, but there instead needs to be a better deployment and more political direction for the ones that currently exist. Read more...

This week’s donors’ conference on Mali was both another donor-recipient show, and a new hope for an electoral renaissance. There are many reasons to be optimistic: over 3 billion euros were pledged and the internationalisation of crisis response may lead to the invention of a new French touch in Africa. Will the EU be coherent in its work if France remains in the driving seat? Will grievances be addressed if the elites become too busy absorbing the budget lines of international solidarity? In a Talking Points Blog post, ECDPM’s Damien Helly discusses the outcome of the 15 May donors’ conference and what it means for the role of European external action in Mali. Read more...

The African Union will celebrate its’ golden jubilee anniversary next week in Addis Ababa. ECDPM’s Sahra El Fassi talks about the evolving relationship Africa has with the rest of the world, and the impact this has on EU-Africa relations. The Joint European Commission-African Union Commission meeting in April confirmed that other stakeholders’ efforts are vital in making the Africa-EU partnership a success. As preparations begin for the 2014 Africa-EU Summit, how can the two continents create a relationship of equals? Read more...