The European Union as an Answer to Global Challenges

The question is whether Europe wants to actively shape globalisation and wants to proactively address global problems that also have repercussions on European polities. The EU is an endeavour to pool national sovereignty in order to gain political clout at the international level. Global risks and opportunities need to be managed, and the EU will be increasingly expected to act. International development is one of the important strands of the EU’s external relations, as it addresses root causes of conflict and includes work on global public goods. Given this context, this briefing paper will outline the background for policy-making in EU development policy. We will be going to explore three areas in more depth: (i) engaging with new actors, (ii) combining energy security, democracy and development and (iii) addressing climate change.