European development cooperation to 2020: challenges by new actors in international development

After an exceptionally positive period in the 1990s, development cooperation policy has come under increasing pressure since the beginning of the new millennium. This paper focuses specifically on the challenges Europe faces by the emergence of new actors in international development cooperation. It sets out the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) consensus and its implications for international development cooperation, outlines the main categories of new actors and identifies key issues that the growing presence of new state actors in development co-operation raises. It goes on to examine non-state actors in more detail, then outlines the challenges for EU development cooperation in the next decade in order to flag issues on how and at what levels to deal or engage with ‘new donors’ and their respective agendas for the purpose of conducting a European policy for global development.