Publication

The article uses the Center for Global Development Commitment to Development Index (CDI) to examine Europe’s overall performance on spurring development in poor countries. It argues that European countries are energetically tackling the symptoms of poor economic opportunities for developing countries by providing effective aid, while doing relatively little to tackle the underlying structural causes of poverty. Moreover, the more populous countries in Europe tend to have less development-friendly policies than the Nordic countries and the Netherlands. Europe as a whole, however, performs better that other CDI countries, but does less well on trade and security.