Following the successful launch debate of the Development Policy Forum (DPF), Friends of Europe organised a roundtable on 26 February entitled “Is EU development aid entering a new era in the wake of the Lisbon Treaty?”. The debate addressed two main questions: whether beefing up the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) will risk sidelining development aid; and whether European NGOs are right to be concerned over key aspects of the Lisbon Treaty. Specifically, the event tried to assess the likely impact of the new treaty on the EU’s efforts to tackle poverty and promote economic growth in the developing world. 

Critics observed that the EU’s creation of a new foreign policy chief wearing two hats could lead to policy incoherence or worse, risks sidelining or marginalising Europe’s aid. The fact that the EU’s overarching development objective – eradicating poverty – is enshrined in the new Treaty is a plus, but participants generally agreed that implementation and results on the ground are key. To this end, the strengthening of the policy and programming capacity of the European Commission Delegations is an important step.

Most welcomed the prospect of a more streamlined institutional architecture in Brussels to coordinate the EU’s external relations policies, but there were warnings that to be truly effective, development policy must be based on partnership and ownership with recipient countries. European NGOs concerned over key aspects of the Lisbon Treaty were reminded that it offers an opportunity to make important changes to what has not worked in the past in development cooperation, and to bring together all 27 EU Member States in a coherent approach to help meet the enormous – and growing – challenges faced by the world’s poor.