Despite the growing academic interest in the development policy of the European Union (EU) and the booming literature on Europeanisation, the impact of Europe on national development policies has largely been overlooked. By exploring Member State interactions with and through the EU level across a number of different issues, this volume looks to herald a new research agenda. The picture emerging from the empirical evidence is that of modest degrees of Europeanisation. Resistance to Europe can be attributed to different factors, some operating at the domestic level (e.g. established cultural and normative structures, different types of veto players) and others related to the existence of several groupings with alternative policy prescriptions (e.g. Nordic donors, like-minded countries, former colonial powers). Even where there are signs of convergence (or divergence) between the development policies of the various Member States, they may be due to other influences rather than pressures coming from the EU. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Politics and Society.

Maurizio Carbone is Professor of International Relations and Development and Jean Monnet Professor of EU External Policies at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on the EU’s relations with the developing world, including foreign aid as well as other development-related policies, and more generally the politics of international cooperation.

Jan Orbie is the Director of the Centre for EU Studies and Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at Ghent University. His research focuses on the international policies of the EU, in particular EU trade and development policies, democracy promotion, and the EU’s global social policy.