Towards Coherence?: Development Cooperation Policy and the Development of Policy Cooperation

In light of conflicting sectoral, institutional and national pressures, is the European Union capable of assuring policy coherence, particularly in the field of development cooperation? For the purposes of this paper, we understand coherence to refer to the degree of consistency between policies, in particular those dealing with European external relations. Three facets of this question are worth considering: 1.how did European development policy develop before the EU Treaty?; 2.what does the Treaty say about policy coherence in this respect?; 3.which are the main issues to be dealt with now? [author]