Some Reflections on the European Commission’s Green Book

The democratic conditionality is not a new theme in the world of Cooperation for Development. Even so, it has never been a subject of explicitly central interest, especially in EU-ACP relations, nor will it likely become important in the new negotiations of the Lome Agreement, as shown by its scant presence and definition in the Green Book. To speak of conditionality implies the deliberate usage of cooperation by the donor countries for determined ends: these ends, in turn, should be defined with precision and be provided with the instruments for implementation. In the case of the term democratic, though the traits of a new political conditionality conjugate good government with a plurality of actors, which tends to stimulate local pluralistic structures, the Green Book insists too much on the role of the public sector and too little on the role of society. The relation between the policy of cooperation and the promotion of democracy presents the problem of autonomy of the former with other policies. In the Green Book, centered basically on Africa, there is,underlying, in the first place, the negative balance of this relation, which blames the ACP countries while mostly sparing the EU from any self-criticism. In the second place, there is the neoliberal focus, which is reflected in the treatment given conditionality and in the assignment of resources. A review of the use made of the few instruments created before the Green Book leads to the impression of there being great heterogeneity, little efficiency, and a lack of clear reference criteria. In light of what appears in the Green Book, it seems that the link between the CFSP, the interests of the member States, and the policy of Cooperation will nevertheless continue to paralyze the application of democratic conditionality