Is European aid so different? A long term comparison of European, Japanese and Chinese aid programmes

Defraigne, Jean-Christophe [FUSL]

The purpose of this presentation is to take a long term perspective to analyze the quantitative and qualitative changes of Europe ODA both at the European Union’s level and at the member state’s level. Focusing on the ACP and African economies, it will highlight the differences between the supranational and national aid policies in Europe and compare them with the two major aid providers from Asia: Japan and China. Comparing official development aid flows between different donors has always been a difficult task. Development Assistance Committee of the OECD provides a common methodology to assess these flows for its 29 member states that include the EU, Japan and South Korea. Other donor countries from Asia also report their development aid programmes to the OECD such Thailand and Taiwan. Finally, the OECD provides estimates of other important donors, notably China and India (OECD 2015). Nevertheless, the OECD has its own specific changes of methodology which do not necessarily correspond to those of non-DAC members. Analyzing the European aid flows is also more complex because of the EU supranational policies and institutions that coexist with the development programmes of the individual EU member states. The total amount of flows from EU member states is more important than those originating from EU institutions so one need to look at both these channels of aid coming from Europe. This chapter will provide a long-term analysis that looks into European aid programmes since the decolonization processes in Africa and Asia. It will demonstrate that beyond rhetorical differences, the behaviour of the largest European donors is not fundamentally different from China or Japan. It will also show that there is a high degree of heterogeneity of aid policies between the various EU Member states, notably between those who used to be colonial powers and the others.