Contestation over Development Policy in the European Parliament

Abstract

Recent rise of populist parties has brought about more contestation over development policy. There is also increasing diversity within the European Union: some countries allocate more development aid while the contributions of newer member states are on average smaller. But do such national interests surface more often than in other issue areas, and what is the structure of contestation over development policy in the European Parliament (EP)? Examining roll-call votes and the processing of the 2017 European Consensus on Development, this article shows that opposition to development policy is restricted to the more Eurosceptical representatives. EP party groups attain similar levels of cohesion in votes on development aid as in other policy areas, with coalition patterns following the left–right dimension. Development policy is thus ‘business as usual’ in the Parliament, but the results suggest increasing politicization of aid through stronger horizontal linkages between immigration, security, and development policy.