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Collectively the largest donor and now what? The EU as a global development actor under Trump 2.0

Keijzer, Niels
Staff - Other (2025)

in: Stephan Klingebiel / Andy Sumner (eds.), Development and development policy in the Trump era, Bonn: German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), 29-34

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23661/idp23.2025

The European Union (EU) has long prided itself on being a global leader in the provision of official development assistance (ODA) and has sought this status to exert influence on the global development agenda. Based on this position and legacy, as well as given its more recent political ambitions to become a more pronounced and ambitious geopolitical actor, one might expect that the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) would present opportunities for the EU to step up its engagement and expand its influence. Yet the EU’s response has been both hesitant and defensive. This contribution makes two key observations in this respect. First, the EU’s self-assigned status of being a leading global ODA provider was eroding long before Trump re-entered office. Second, due to cuts and incompatible policy preferences, the EU is unwilling and unable to reposition itself in response to the gaps in funding that have resulted from the closure of USAID.

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