The forgotten chapter? Post-accession development policy of central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

It is now more than ten years since the states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) moved from recipients of development aid to donors of development aid. The chapter shows that in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia there has been an increase in aid levels and the creation of legal and administrative structures for development policy. The states under study have clear priority areas for their bilateral aid, focusing on the Eastern Neighborhood and areas of strategic interest. Overall, the chapter argues that a combination of low EU priority, soft law, and lack of political drivers in the accession states created weak foundations for development policy that have had a long lasting legacy. International recognition of the status of being a donor via membership of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) for some states does little to mask the weaknesses, and more work needs to be done to provide the policy with firm political foundations.