Selection of reviews on EU Global Player

"I welcome Mirjam van Reisen's fine analysis of the EU's developing countries policies and programmes. The study is clear and cogent and provides us with an overview which will be essential in the work we have to do in the months and years ahead, to ensure that Europe maintains a strong commitment to its responsibilities in the wider world. To do this, we as politicians, need to be armed with the arguments. This publication will do exactly that."

Glenys Kinnock, MEP for South Wales

"The magnitude of the European Union as a global power is rarely sufficiently acknowledged. It is often extremely difficult to understand how unified EU positions and policies come about, because being a global player, the EU is composed of countries which act as individual players in the international community. This book offers a profound analysis of these dynamics within the European Union, which is crucial for developing a critical view of the EU's role and impact in developing countries in the South. It is an accessibly written book, essential for any students interested in the EU's policies towards the South. Its provocative and foreward-looking approach makes this book also into a useful political tool."

Roberto Bissio, Director of the Instituto Tercer Mundo (Third World Institute), Montevideo, Uruguay

"It is important for the EU development programme to be coherent with its other policies that affect Third World countries. All too often, however, this is not the case and internal European interests undermine the effects of EU aid. A point in case is the Common Agricultural Policy. This book identifies conflicting interests between European assistance and other external policies, notably in trade and investment. Its serious recommendations are well argued on the basis of sustained analysis and this book convincingly makes the case for a political agenda that needs to be urgently addressed."

Max van den Berg, MEP and leader of the Dutch Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Netherlands