Monthly Highlights from ECDPM's Talking Points Blog, GREAT Insights, Volume 2, Issue 8 (November 2013)
Time to Consign Today’s Corporate Social Responsibility to History’s Dustbin. Talking Points, David Sogge, 7 November 2013
David is a guest blogger. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities “have not made a significant contribution to the achievement of the broader policy goals of the European Union.” That is the headline conclusion of a massive research effort to assess the impacts of CSR on Europe’s economy, society and environment. Having enthusiastically endorsed CSR in many policy realms, including international cooperation, the European Union must now re-think its position. And quickly too, for the research blows important holes below CSR’s waterline. The decision to assess CSR impacts took place after the European Parliament in 2007 (…)
Challenges 2014: Win-wins affect interests, can they effect economic transformation? Talking Points, Bruce Byiers, 30 October 2013
+++ ECDPM Challenges blog series. Post number three +++ Will 2014 be a year of implementation? If 2014 is to be a year in which we see genuine moves towards economic transformation it will likely rely less on the international agenda than domestic politics and how these interact with global economic processes. Economic transformation will only take place when governments and the private sector can align interests to make partnerships work. Otherwise, we are unlikely to see much progress in 2014. We have a busy agenda ahead of us…. On-going discussions on the post-2015 agenda will offer opportunities for further promoting the economic transformation agenda, with (…)
Follow the debate online: Are EU-Africa relations still fit for purpose? #AfricaEU201. Talking Points, ECDPM Editorial Team, 28 October 2013
Agenda: http://www.ecdpm.org/ettg2013
Background blogs and insight: http://www.africaeu2014.blogspot.be/
“Doing less and choosing better”: Pacific perspectives on the future of the ACP Group. Talking Points, Geert Laporte, 25 October 2013
The Pacific always has been regarded as “the small boy in the ACP class”. With the exception of the “Pacific giant” Papua New Guinea, the region mainly includes small independent islands states such as Niue, Tuvalu or Nauru. Some of these have less inhabitants than an average European village or hamlet. Under the leadership of former Nigerian President Obasanjo, the ACP Group recently established an Eminent Persons Group (EPG), that will reflect on the future of the ACP Group. Regional multi-stakeholder consultations are now being organised in each of the six ACP sub-regions (...)
Challenges in 2014: Modernisation of EU development cooperation, kick-started or running on the spot? Talking Points, Florian Krätke, 23rd October 2013
+++ ECDPM Challenges blog series. Post number two +++ The European Union’s Agenda for Change is a case of evolution over revolution. The EU’s new development policy sketches an aid-centric reform strategy that introduces significant changes for the European aid and development cooperation landscape in 2014-2020. With Europe in crisis and aid under pressure, the EU wants to increase the effectiveness of its development assistance. What are the biggest implementation challenges, and how fit is the EU to do so? The year 2014 will close the circle from policy to programming to practice. The EU’s aid (…)
This article was published in Great Insights Volume 2, Issue 8 (November 2013)
