European Union development strategy in the Pacific

Abstract

Development in the Pacific region is uneven, multi-layered and challenging. The European Union’s development cooperation with the Pacific is significant; in fact the EU is the second largest donor of development assistance to the region. This study, implemented by the European Consortium for Pacific Studies, analyses the current and future contexts for European Union engagement in development cooperation with the Pacific, and proposes elements of a renewed EU development strategy for the region. From a Pacific perspective, the question of defining a new EU development strategy is as much a matter of defining new and equal partnerships through which Pacific development strategies can be supported. Rising to the challenge of re-imagining EU-Pacific relations will require a good deal of work and reflection. The Pacific clearly constitutes a geopolitical context whose importance is markedly set to grow in significance, and there is a clear rationale for the EU to commit further resources to support its interests and activities in the region. In particular, the EU should enhance and deepen its institutional knowledge and means of drawing upon existing expertise on ‘Pacific Ways’.