Development issues are increasingly caught up in a web of crosscutting global themes. For the European Union, this will affect the way its programs are being set up: larger programs and less room for smaller, individual contracts.
Under President Jean-Claude Juncker, the new European Commission — the EU’s executive arm — is reshaping its working methods by coordinating, clustering and cross-pollinating the activities of its commissioners. EuropeAid, the commission’s international cooperation and development department, is no stranger to this approach and has been advocating for policy coherence across departments for some time.
The new commission structure has brought with it the formation of a number of cluster groups. Neven Mimica, the commission's development chief is now part of the Commissioners’ Group on External Action, under High Representative and Vice President Federica Mogherini, together with Christos Stylianides, the commission's humanitarian aid chief, and their colleagues for European neighborhood, trade, migration and home affairs; climate action and energy; and transport policies.