Renewing French and EU development and cooperation policy

French and EU policy on development and cooperation with the countries of the “South” is at a turning point. While numerous discussions are underway – in both Paris and Brussels –, the context has undergone profound changes with the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, which mark an increase in the level of ambition in this field, the growing importance of security issues, and the increasingly significant role of the emerging countries and private donors in financing for development.

In this context, France and the European Union need to redefine the “signature” of their policy, in other words its justification, its priorities and its implementation tools. Should it be used primarily to raise private funds, by issuing guarantees, for example? Should it concentrate on the least developed countries and on certain orphans sectors in terms of capital flows, such as education and health? Should it be used strategically to promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law? The goal of IDDRI’s initiative is to help France and the EU to clarify this signature.

To achieve this, IDDRI was involved in informing the French Interministerial Committee on International Cooperation and Development (CICID), held in February 2018 (see key achievements 2017), building in particular on its four years of research on French official development assistance (ODA) as part of the Transformative Investment for Sustainable Development Project (TISD) and the French official development assistance in the post-2015 agenda project.

At the European level, IDDRI works with its partners in the European Think Tank Group (ETTG) and focuses on different aspects of EU security strategy and its new doctrine on development.

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