A more political Strengthening European External Action Implications of the Treaty of Lisbon for the EU's relations with developing countries

This InBrief aims to provide an overview of the innovations in the Lisbon Treaty which, directly or indirectly, are likely to affect the EU’s relations with developing countries. It will examine the issues affecting the future use of development cooperation in the context of the EU’s wider external action and Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
The Lisbon Treaty was signed in December 2007, after years of debate over the desirable degree of European political integration. It reflects the latest phase in the gradual transformation of the EU from a rather inward looking community, to a global player, inter alia, by expanding its list of objectives. For the first time these general objectives include the eradication of poverty, which is currently only an objective of development cooperation and not even among the objectives of EU external action. However, development cooperation will be used by the EU as just one of its tools of external action in the overall more political role it seeks to play in the world.

This InBrief aims to provide an overview of the innovations in the Lisbon Treaty which, directly or indirectly, are likely to affect the EU’s relationship with developing countries. The first section will examine the issues affecting the future use of development cooperation in the context of the EU’s wider external action and Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). It will also point out the challenges in terms of putting these institutional innovations into practice. The second part of this InBrief will look at how the changes could play out in practice through changes in institutions and structures and in the implementation of policies, such as the recently launched Joint Africa-EU Strategy.