Post 2015: Global Action for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

adopted by individual governments, between
policies adopted by different states (and at intergovernmental
levels), and at the multilateral level
(EcDpm and IcEI, 2005).
Despite the solid legal basis and supportive
political statements made over the last 20 years, there
has been only tentative progress towards making
Eu policies more development-friendly. In may
2012, Eu ministers responsible for development
cooperation acknowledged that ‘PCD is essential
for the credibility of the EU as a global actor, and
hence, a strong EU leadership on PCD issues at high
levels of all parts of the EU and in Member States is
important’ (Fac, 2012).
the difficulties involved in making the required
political trade-offs in order to transform Eu policies
to make them coherent with development objectives
can be seen, for instance, in the revision of the Eu’s
common Fisheries policy (cFp) and common
agriculture policy (cap). both are highly relevant
to developing countries. In the case of the cFp, the
legislative proposals aimed at promoting Eu fishing
outside Eu territorial waters seem more ambitious
than the proposed measures to enforce and further
these pcD objectives (Keijzer, 2011). In the case
of the cap, although there have been important
reforms, such as the reduction of export subsidies,
the recent proposals largely keep the current
structure of the cap intact and could have been
more ambitious in reducing its distorting effects on
world markets (matthews, 2011; Klavert et al., 2011;
te velde et al., 2012). 32
although concerted global action is required
in order to make effective progress in promoting
mDG8, as in the case for ending overfishing, the
Eu should seek to be a first mover in view of its
strong political commitment to pcD. this does not
mean that the Eu should be motivated purely by
charitable or altruistic motives, but that the union
should always seek to go beyond short-term gains
and instead aim to further long-term objectives
that benefit global development as well its own
interests.
3.3.3 The challenge to be accountable
on promoting PCD
as one of the main proponents of promoting pcD
worldwide, the Eu is all too aware of the difficulties
involved. Extensive policy discussions, often
concerning concrete cases of policy incoherence, 33
have led to a strong conviction among Eu policymakers
of the general importance of pcD. In
contrast, however, there is rather little rigorous
evidence on the effects of specific Eu policies
in specific developing countries, particularly
in comparison to the investment in research
on the effects and effectiveness of development
cooperation policies and operations. Even in cases
where policy ‘incoherence’ is clearly established,
there is often a lack of rigorous analysis of how to
achieve a change in policy that would result in a
more positive outcome. once again, the problem is
essentially one of attributing causality to specific
features of Eu policy in complex development
processes that are subject to many other forces.
although the argument for better pcD makes
intuitive sense, it is very difficult to be certain that
a particular Eu policy change (in development
cooperation or in any other area) will necessarily
result in positive development outcomes. 34
recent discussions on pcD in the Eu, as well as
in oEcD/Dac peer reviews covering Eu member
States (oEcD/Dac, 2012), have concentrated on
inputs and processes rather than on the more
32 at the time that this report was drafted it was expected that further changes and revisions to the legal text proposed by the commission in July
2011 (cFp) and october 2011 (cap) will be concluded in 2013.
33 For a good overview of issues that were discussed during the 1990s, see Koulaïmah-Gabriel and oomen (1997).
34 See section 4.2 as far as development cooperation is concerned. For other Eu policies, a general methodological problem is that Eu policies
have differentiated effects on different social groups in different developing countries (e.g. predominantly urban or rural, physical distance
from Europe).
poSt-2015: Global actIon For an IncluSIvE anD SuStaInablE FuturE
But despite the
solid legal basis
and supportive
political
statements made
over the last
20 years, there
has been only
tentative progress
towards making
EU policies more
developmentfriendly.
53