The European Commission and European Union member states may together be the world’s largest provider of official development assistance, but Europe’s wide reach sometimes invites the argument that it is spread too thin.
Enter the “Team Europe initiatives,” or TEIs: the commission’s attempt to marshal member states, as well as the European Investment Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to make Europe the partner of reference in certain sectors in partner countries.
“I often make the comparison of a football team,” Koen Doens, the head of the commission’s development department, said during a recent webinar for the private sector. “They are not all [Cristiano] Ronaldo or [Lionel] Messi. We have different players in the football team with different qualities, different styles, and so on. The real issue is to make them play as a team. And the greatest teams do not only have strong individuals; they have strong individuals that play together.”