This second article in a series looking at development in European countries focuses on Ireland, which is becoming a major and much-lauded player in world development. Yet there are doubts within the domestic aid community about the direction of policy and the management of rapid growth.   read more >>

Judith Sargentini is an MEP for GroenLinks, the Dutch Greens. Before being elected last June, she spent ten years working for development NGOs. November 2009 is a historic month. With Vaclav Klaus, the last head of state has finally ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty, in effect as from 1st December, makes the Council of ministers more transparent, gives us Members of the European Parliament more legislative powers and - very relevant for the development world - it gives us a say over...   read more >>

Lesley Tobin is a technology analyst at the Institute of Nanotechnology, UK, and is the project coordinator of the EC-funded ICPC Nanonet Project. Nanoscale research can potentially provide solutions to fundamental societal problems in areas such as the environment, health and energy. Success in such scientific investigations and their applications will inevitably impact positively on the global community, but only if society is able to engage through international collaboration and acce...   read more >>

Ineke Malsch is director of Malsch TechnoValuation and a consultant in technology and society. Earlier this month, Beijing hosted the second annual ICPC NanoNet workshop dedicated to international cooperation between European nanoscientists and their colleagues in emerging economies and developing countries. The event was hosted by the Chinese Society of Micro-Nano Technology at Tsinghua University. Participants from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe presented the state of the art o...   read more >>

Mirjam van Reisen is Director at Europe External Policy Advisors (EEPA) - a centre of expertise that provides in-depth analysis in order to strengthen the participation of all actors contributing to the creation of a responsible social Europe. The European Union exists only through the legal agreements that underpin it. Therefore the Lisbon Treaty is important, and scrutinising it is relevant to identifying the perspective of a future European Union. The good news is that the Lisbon T...   read more >>

Last Friday, European Commission President Barosso presented his proposed 27-strong team and the policy portfolios for each of them. Reactions in the press on the proposed team of Commissioners are on average 'tentatively positive' of the mix of experience and new blood, while also starring one woman more than the present team. It goes without saying that the European Parliament is quite anxious to organise the hearings for the proposed Commissioners in the first weeks 2010. Columnist N...   read more >>

In order to improve the promotion of Policy Coherence for Development in the European Union, we need to address both 'thematic' and 'horizontal' priorities. Thematic priorities such as trade and migration policies are generally in the limelight and discussed ardently - as was the case in the Council and the EP recently. Horizontal priorities - what is to be done to actually ensure delivery on PCD? - are perhaps less exciting but no less crucial to achieving progress on PCD...   read more >>

Note from the editor: the below article was published on the 1st of March on the website of the German Development Institute, and in German on the sites of Die Zeit and Deutsche Welle The approval of the second EU-Commission of José Manuel Barroso by the European Parliament on 9 February should prove a defining moment for European development policy. The Lisbon Treaty changes the institutional setting for the external relations of the European Union (EU) and while intra-EU horse-trading...   read more >>

While the longest dinner in EU history is soon to start, some of you may like to easy the waiting by taking account of important decisions made by the EU this week on policy coherence and more contours of the 'job description' for the High Representative for foreign and security policy. Whereas the latter note on the High Representative points out that trade and development policy should remain the responsibility of the respective Commissioners in the European Commission,...   read more >>

Those of you who missed the Czech Constitutional Court's ruling and the subsequent signing of the Treaty by Vaclav Klaus on were likely staying on an uninhabited island. The addition of the final signature last Tuesday at 15.00 PM Central European Time also marked an official end to a long period of speculation and uncertainty, as well as a short tradition of researchers to accompany statements on Lisbon with 'if ratified', 'likely to be ratified', 'eventual ratification of',...   read more >>

Sanoussi Bilal is head of Economic and Trade Cooperation Programme, at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM), Maastricht and Brussels The financial crisis, though having its origin in developed countries, has generated a global recession that has severe consequences for developing countries, including in Africa, in terms of their prospects for economic growth and development, notably through a decline of trade and investment flows, lower remittances, some lower co...   read more >>