Make Europe happen on the ground? Enabling and constraining factors for EU aid coordination in Africa

Carbone, M. (2017) Make Europe happen on the ground? Enabling and constraining factors for EU aid coordination in Africa. Development Policy Review, 35(4), pp. 531-548. (doi: 10.1111/dpr.12194)

Abstract

This article investigates the extent to which collective commitments donor coordination made at the EU level trigger changes in the practices of EU member states. By exploring the trajectory of joint programming from its inception in Europe to its application in sub-Saharan Africa, it demonstrates that member states’ development policies are affected by EU membership, but to differing degrees. Importantly, the transformative power of Europe is less pronounced on the ground than at headquarters level. This decoupling of norms from practices can be attributed not only to the attempt of EU donors to pursue national goals and to the resistance of aid bureaucracies, but also to the increased scepticism of recipient countries and the growing complexity of the development architecture.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Carbone, Professor Maurizio
• Authors: Carbone, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Development Policy Review
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0950-6764
• ISSN (Online): 1467-7679
• Published Online: 03 November 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Author, Developmental Policy Review and Overseas Development Institute
• First Published: First published in Development Policy Review 35(4):531-548
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher