Reluctant Donors? The Europeanization of International Development Policies in the New Member States

Abstract

The EU played an instrumental role re-starting the international development policies in Central and Eastern European member states, but questions remain about how far this policy area has been Europeanized since accession. Focusing on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the paper investigates why the new donors have been reluctant to adopt the EU's development acquis more fully. The paper traces the process of the EU's development policy rulemaking and subsequent national rule implementation to understand the socialization opportunities these processes offer. The conclusions reveal thrre reasons why socialization has been weak: (1) perceptions among the new member states on the development acquis' procedural legitimacy; (2) low domestic resonance with the development acquis; and (3) inconsistencies in the activities of norm entrepreneurs. The paper contributes to our understanding of development policy in the EU, in particular how decision making takes place within the Council and its Working Groups post enlargement.

Russia as a Recruited Development Donor

“…Recent studies of the effects of EU accession on the aid policies of New Member States have placed emphasis on socialization and social learning as key factors in the internalization of 'European values and formal rules' in the area of development policy (Szent-Iványi, 2012;Lightfoot and Szent-Iványi, 2014). I agree that such social processes are a key element often overlooked in the literature on international development aid and cooperation.…”

Development Cooperation of the ‘New’ EU Member States

“…They were reported to feel like 'outsiders' (Lightfoot & Szent-Iványi, 2014). Their major attempt to 'upload' their preferences in the form of 'transition experience' was misunderstood by the 'old' member states and mostly failed (see Case Studies 1 and 2).…”

The European Union and Policy Coherence for Development: Reforms, Results, Resistance

“…security, migration) policies. Member States that joined the EU after 2004 are known not to be highly committed in this area (Horký, 2012;Lightfoot and Szent-Iványi, 2014), but neither are founding Member States such as Italy or France (Carbone and Quartapelle, 2015;Cumming, 2015). Thus, the PCD agenda at the EU level primarily moves forward through the involvement and commitment of a selected group of like-minded countries, most notably Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden, and partly the UK, who does not use the term PCD (van Seters et al, 2015).…”