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Contributions from
the Column
Media
Hunger and globalisation
Civil society – a changing concept
France’s own brand of development policy
Comprehensive, but not innovative
07/2006 |
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France’s own brand of development policy
Alexandra Illmer:
Politische Konditionalität, Strukturanpassung, Armutsbekämpfung. Entwicklungspolitik à la française [Political conditionality, structural adjustment, poverty reduction. Development policy à la française].
Hamburg, Papers from the German Overseas Institute 2005,
240 p., ¤20.00, ISBN 3-926953-64-0
Anyone assuming that France’s development policy has finally moved on from past traditions to embrace modern development strategies, will soon learn otherwise from Alexandra Illmer, a political scientist. According to her, little has changed: France adopts international development strategies later than other countries, and then modifies them slightly, in order to give them a French dimension.
In plain language, this means that France’s colonial traditions act as a stumbling-block. Development aid continues to be focussed on the francophone countries of sub-Saharan Africa. France’s own interests – mainly cultural and military, and to a lesser degree business – are given priority.
When these interests clash with demands for democratic development or an increased focus on poverty reduction, France still prefers to support pro-French elites rather than any unknown quantity. When in doubt, personal and geo-political loyalties take precedence over other considerations.
According to Illmer, France also upholds its own development traditions in its relationships with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This is mainly due to the fact that Paris has a more skeptical attitude towards the power of the markets than the major financial institutions, which characteristically stand in an Anglo-Saxon intelectual tradition. In France, the state continues to play a more significant role. For instance, France treats the privatisation of state-owned enterprises with suspicion and gives it only a low priority.
France has gained influence in other countries, mainly in Africa, with its policies. However, according to Illmer, this is offset by a major loss of French influence on EU development cooperation. Paris is so slow to endorse new strategies, that other countries dominate inner-EU discourse.
Werner Eggert
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