Transnational Networks and Eu International Cooperation: In Pursuit of Effectiveness by Sebastian Steingass

Author:Sebastian Steingass [Steingass, Sebastian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Development, Business Development, Political Science, Business & Economics, General
ISBN: 9780429351334
Google: 9AOQzQEACAAJ
Goodreads: 53369796
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Several interviewees in the EEAS highlighted joint programming as a political instrument of the EU to ‘speak with one voice’ in order to increase the EU’s impact in third countries (Interviews EEAS2; EEAS3). This followed a more general, high-level discourse of coordination in all EU external action horizontally and vertically with the member states, which aims at horizontal coherence of all-EU external action and the subjection of development as part of foreign policy. This suggests that issue control through de-politicisation at the managerial level was competing with a politicisation of joint programming from higher EU echelons. Hence, although at the working level in Brussels the EEAS seemed committed to aid/development effectiveness, at higher levels in the EEAS, also among heads of missions, coordination was not primarily seen against the background of international development and aid effectiveness (Carbone 2017: 540).

Although the institutions come from different overarching conceptions of the purpose of joint EU action in development cooperation, at the Brussels working level respective issue professionals in the EEAS and DG DEVCO highlighted that they interacted ‘like one team’ in the ‘facilitation’ of joint programming (Interviews DEVC1; DEVC2; EEAS1). Thus, they sought to limit participation in the advocacy (or ‘facilitation’) of the policy norm to themselves. Some of the involved EEAS officials were development policy professionals themselves; they joined the EEAS as seconded national experts from national development departments to support the EU’s aid programming for 2014–20 (Interview EEAS1). The collaboration with the EEAS provided a channel for DG DEVCO officials to advocate their understanding of joint programming at the country level where joint action is implemented. The EU delegations also needed to be convinced of the value added of joint programming, which was not necessarily evident due to diverging internal priorities in the delegations between development officials and diplomatic staff (Carbone 2017: 540). Thus, headquarters’ support was relevant to establish on what basis joint programming was promoted by the delegations with the local member state representatives.

In the process of implementing the first round of joint programming, DG DEVCO and EEAS officials sought to convince the delegations in the field of the continued ‘political desire’ to expand joint programming (Interview DEVC1). In letters from 2010 and 2012, both organisations asked the delegations to promote joint programming in the field, seeking to generate positive feedback to member states on the policy level (European Commission 2010c, 2012b; European Commission and European External Action Service 2012). Subsequently, several EU delegations, mostly in Sub-Sahara Africa, tabled proposals for joint programming covering most of the EU’s ODA. While the joint programming process was to be headed by the EU delegations in the respective countries, both DG DEVCO and EEAS officials provided headquarters and delegations with significant support throughout the process (Estrada-Cañamares 2014: 59). For instance, they jointly prepared a ‘guidance pack’, published in April 2015 (European Commission 2015a), training and regional workshops between early 2014 and early 2015 for the EU delegations, and organised presentations and information campaigns in Brussels.

Following the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty reforms,

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