At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the European Union (EU) stands out as an important regional organisation. It entertains formalised relations with almost all other (groups of ) states. Although much of its attention is devoted to internal integration, obviously the European Union cannot and does not wish to be an isolated entity. Instead it has expressed the desire and ambition to take up a prominent place in the working of international relations. In addition to the general goal of forging good relations with (potential) political and economic partners across the globe, the Union also wishes to use its place in international relations as a vehicle for advocating some of the values it considers important. Among these values are democracy, social welfare, human rights and liberalism.The EU perceives development cooperation policy as an important tool to serve both missions. Accordingly, an impressive and unique record of development cooperation activities and of structural and comprehensive policy has been built over time. Until the 1990s, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states unequivocally were Europe's most preferred developing country partners, and ACP-EU relations were the most visible and important component of the EU development cooperation programme. ACP-EU relations started at the very creation of the European Economic Community in 1957 and were elaborated first in the Yaoundé and then in the Lomé Conventions and the 2000 Cotonou Agreement. In many peoples' eyes the Lomé Convention came to symbolise EU development cooperation, more so than any other agreement (Grilli, 1993). It linked the EU with a large group of developing countries, many among the poorest, in an innovative agreement which declared itself to operate on the basis of equality of partners. In the 1970s the Lomé Convention was held up as a model for the future of North-South relations in general and EU development policy in particular. The Convention embodied many novel features which seemed to suggest that the EU was prepared to buck the trend in international development and take on board some of the arguments

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On 23 June 2000 the Cotonou Agreement was signed, replacing the twentyfive-year-old Lomé Convention. There was a distinct feeling of change in Cotonou and the new Agreement is seen as radically overhauling its predecessors and setting a new basis for partnership between the ACP and EU states. It is too early to provide in-depth analysis of the Cotonou Agreement, not least because in many ways Cotonou provides a kind of interregnum between the existing Lomé Conventions and future, as yet to be determined, Regional Economic Partnership Agreements. This is most obvious in the case of the trade-related aspects of the Agreement. Negotiations started in September 2002 for progressive implementation from 2008 onwards, creating, in effect, a ten-year transition period. It has been argued in various corners that Lomé was in need of overhaul. Not only were the instruments less than effective, but the international context had changed so drastically over the period involved that the articles of agreement appeared anachronistic. It is hard to disagree with this analysis, although many of Lomé's failings lay not so much in the actual policies (some of which, as we have pointed out, were highly commendable) but in their management and implementation. The Cotonou Agreement places key emphasis on political dialogue (Article 8). It makes good governance a fundamental and positive element, while respect for human rights, democratic values and the rule of law become essential elements (Article 9). Peace-building policies and conflict prevention and resolution feature more prominently than before (Article 11). The inclusion of migration extends the agreement and accommodates growing European concerns explicitly (Article 13). The Cotonou Agreement also proposes finally to end the preferential trade margins accorded to non-least developed ACP states in favour of more liberal free trade agreements strongly shaped by the WTO agenda (Article 36). These changes need to be seen in the context of the April 2000 elaboration of new Commission guidelines for development policy. These include the desire

Development cooperation is one of the traditional policy domains of the European Union (EU). Over the years it advanced from an instrument used in colonial times to one of modern partnership, although European self-interest remains a driving force. Jointly, the EU and its member states are the largest development donor in the world and also provide sizable market access and investment to developing countries. Their overall performance record has been assessed fairly positively by internal and external parties, although many possible improvements have been identified. The various enlargements of the EU traceably supported a widening of the geographic and substantive scope of EU development policies and practice. In addition, EU development cooperation was reinforced by the fact that it gradually received a firmer basis in the constituent EU treaties. The “European Consensus on Development” document, as revised in 2017, laid out the main direction of and emphases in EU development cooperation until the year 2030. The European Consensus prescribed a rights-based approach, and squarely placed the United Nations “Agenda 2030” and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained in it, as the main framework and objectives for EU development cooperation. A wide range of actors is involved in EU development cooperation, in part because this is an area of shared competence among the EU member states that pursue their own national policies as well as those specified by the EU. Thus, EU actors such as the European Commission, Council, and Parliament feature in this policy field along with EU member states and individual or collective developing country actors. The most prominent example of this is the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, which consists of 79 countries. Civil society organizations, including non-governmental development organizations, both from the North and the South, also seek to influence or otherwise engage with the policies and practices of EU development cooperation. While EU development cooperation is an established policy field, it is also still very much a work in progress, and major challenges lay ahead for action in the period up to 2030, the year in which the SDGs are to be realized. These major challenges include funding, strengthening the EU’s political clout in the world by using development cooperation more strategically for forging and influencing global decision-making on relevant topics, renewing and innovating the relations between the EU and ACP countries, handling the consequences of Brexit, and improving on the delivery of EU development cooperation.