An assessment of the balancing of EU development objectives with other policies and priorities

EU's trade, agriculture, climate change and migration policies have a large impact on the Union's development objectives, reason why coherence between these and development policies is crucial. The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are powerful policy tools and the recent revisions of the GSP and the conclusion of most recent EPAs are in principle coherent with development objectives. However, detailed analysis shows that 'sensitive product' lists, particularly high tariffs for semi-processed and final goods, and rules of origin undermine the positive potential impact of the GSP system. At the same time, tailor-made liberalisation programs in the EPAs risk regional integration and export diversification. As regards migration policy, there is clear need to prioritize policy coherence for development over conflicting interests between different Commission departments. In the area of climate change there is need for improvement, especially as regards climate funding and mainstreaming of climate change concerns into EU development cooperation. In agriculture, the EU export and domestic subsidies have a negative impact on developing countries and there is a need for more coherence vis-à-vis the Union's development policy.