Who called Team Europe? The European Union’s development policy response during the first wave of COVID-19

Burni, Aline / Benedikt Erforth / Ina Friesen / Christine Hackenesch / Maximilian Hoegl / Niels Keijzer
External Publications (2021)

in: The European Journal of Development Research 34, 524-539

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-021-00428-7
Open access

The COVID-19 pandemic is a critical juncture for global development. Under the label of “Team Europe”, the EU has sought to mobilize rapid development assistance to support partners in addressing the impacts of the crisis, while promoting joined-up approaches among European actors to assert itself in a changing and competitive geopolitical context. This article assesses how substantive and process-oriented EU development policy norms are reflected in the Union’s global COVID-19 response. Focusing on the EU’s response during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020, the article shows that the EU’s response to this extraordinary crisis consisted of a deepening of EU integration. In so doing, the EU emphasized process-oriented over substantive norms in its development policy.

About the authors

Hackenesch, Christine

Political Science

Hackenesch

Keijzer, Niels

Social Science

Keijzer

Erforth, Benedikt

Political Science

Erforth

Burni, Aline

Political Science

Burni

Friesen, Ina

Political Science

Friesen

Further experts

Bergmann, Julian

Political Science 

Dang, Vy

Political Science 

Furness, Mark

Political Science 

Grimm, Sven

Political Science 

Koch, Svea

Social Science 

Löpelt, Sarah

International relations and Sustainability policy 

von Haaren, Paula

Development Economics