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Abstract
This article examines the European Union's (EU's) full membership of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). More specifically, we address (1) why the EU became a full member of the DAC in 1961, long before the EU was granted legal competences for development policy, and (2) why this membership status has remained unaltered over the past half-century, despite persistent dissatisfaction among both EU and non-EU members of the DAC. By applying historical institutionalism, we find that the initial decision on the EU's membership status in the DAC created a path dependence that was impossible to reverse afterwards, despite changing internal and external circumstances.
Notes
1 Although from a legal point of view the DAC can be seen as a committee of the OECD, we refer to it as an IO in its own right in the remainder of this article given the DAC's quasi-autonomous status within the OECD. As such, we follow the example set by other scholars (see Eyben Citation2013; Masujima Citation2004; Ruckert Citation2008; Verschaeve and Takács Citation2013).
2 While the Millennium Development Goals were adopted by the UN in 2000, they largely draw upon the International Development Goals that were put forward by the DAC in 1996 (Manning Citation2008; OECD/DAC Citation1996).
3 When the EU holds exclusive competences in a policy area, the EU alone is able to legislate and adopt binding acts in these fields.
4 Important exceptions are Farrell (Citation2008; Citation2012) and Baroncelli (Citation2011); although both scholars focus on the international financial institutions and the UN, they ignore the DAC.
5 The first section of our analysis draws to a large extent on US sources, stemming from the fact that Washington was the main driver behind the establishment of the DAC (see below). As such, US diplomats consulted extensively with their counterparts across the Atlantic, including officials from the European Commission, allowing us to retrace the different positions on the EU's accession to the DAC.
6 As most officials were only willing to share their views on the condition of absolute anonymity, interviews are indicated by a general reference only. More detailed information on our interviews can be found in the reference section of this article.
7 The EU itself was unable to join the DAG given that it lacked legal personality at that time.
8 Therefore, the initial decision on the EU's membership status in the DAG can be considered a critical juncture (compare Meunier and McNamara Citation2007) as it drove Western donors to start coordinating their aid efforts, whereas previously they had been reluctant to do so (Esman and Cheever Citation1967).
9 The autonomy of the DAC was also reflected in the fact that it was the only OECD committee with a residential chair, its own membership criteria, a (partly) independent budget and the capacity to voice its own opinions without gaining the approval of the OECD council (Masujima Citation2004; Ruckert Citation2008).
10 Both the EU and its member states are allowed to adopt binding acts in the field of development cooperation.
11 The EU did not propose to change the existing practice in which the contributions of the EU member states to the EU's development budget are added to their individual ODA figures. Consequently, when adding the EU to the table on individual donor ODA efforts, the same aid flows would be reported twice.
12 In 2013, after the accession of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia and Poland to the DAC, two out of three members of the Committee are member states of the EU, whereas this ratio was historically (significantly) lower.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Joren Verschaeve
Joren Verschaeve has been a doctoral fellow at the Centre for EU Studies of Ghent University since October 2011. He has a master's degree in EU studies from Ghent University (2011). Email: [email protected]
Jan Orbie
Jan Orbie is a professor in the Department of Political Sciences at Ghent University. His research focuses on the international policies of the EU, in particular EU trade and development policies. Email: [email protected]