(Bio)Fueling Injustice? - Europafrica

8. The EU and EU Member States’ violations of
EU and international law
8.1. The EU facing its own contradictions: the EU must fulfil
its commitments and make its policies coherent
Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009, which has become the EU
legal basis, the EU has to ensure that all its policies are coherent with its development
objectives. According to article 208 of the new Treaty on the Functioning of the
European Union:
Union development cooperation policy shall have as its primary
objective the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of
poverty. The Union shall take account of the objectives of
development cooperation in the policies that it implements
which are likely to affect developing countries.
This provision refers to the so-called policy coherence for development (PCD). It is
enshrined in numerous legal instruments besides the Lisbon Treaty. 443 It has been on
the European agenda for decades, and in addition to being a legal obligation, it is
underpinned by a strong political commitment and it has been supported by the
various institutions of the EU. 444 Most recently, the European Commission unveiled its
future strategy for development cooperation, where it asserted that the PCD agenda
will be promoted and reinforced. 445
PCD implies taking into account the needs and interest of developing countries in
non‐aid policies. It recognises that development cooperation alone cannot meet the
needs of developing countries, and that EU policies in areas other than development
should not contradict development policies. The “D” of PCD is therefore crucial. EU
policies dot not only have to be only coherent amongst themselves, which is an
obvious standard of good governance, but also specifically need to be coherent with
EU development objectives. 446
The implementation and mainstreaming of PCD is coordinated by the Directorate
General for Development and Cooperation of the European Commission. Coherence
is assessed at the stage of the discussion of EU’s initiatives, before their adoption by
the College of commissioners, and later through reporting. The European Parliament
also has a Standing Rapporteur on PCD, and an EU Ombudsman set up in 2001 acts
in instances of maladministration of the EU’s institutions, which can include PCD. 447
The European Commission has recognised the growing impact of internal policies in
external relations, stating that “the concept of PCD needs to be taken into account
more systematically.” In 2009, the EU defined 5 priority areas in which to enhance
PCD, which include climate change and global food security, with the aim to achieve
the UN Millennium Development Goals. 448 The Commission further indicated that the
policies related to climate change comprise “transport, energy and trade but also
biofuels production, thus linking the challenge to the area of agriculture.” 449
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