The European Community and the Developing Countries

The European Community has long been the largest trading bloc in the world. It is also on the way to becoming the world’s largest integrated economic zone. Its trade, aid and development cooperation policies are therefore of great importance to developing countries. At the same time, the developing countries have continued to be of interest to the Community, both as outlets for its exports and capital investments and as sources of raw materials. This book analyses and evaluates European Community trade, aid and industrial policies towards developing countries - their origin, main features, logic, evolution and effectiveness in reaching the goals assigned to them. It argues that EC development policies have not yet shed their colonial roots continuing to focus on Africa, at the expense of countries in Asia, Latin America, Southern and Eastern Europe. The author sums up the state of Europe’s development policies by describing them as regional in scope, colonial in geographical emphasis, discriminatory in their effects and lacking in overall cogency. This incisive re-evaluation is particularly timely as it illustrates the different strategies the EC countries might pursue in their relations with the outside world as they progress towards fuller economic integration.