Geography of the european union development aid allocation

Anotace: The European Union (EU), its institutions and Member States, represents the largest donor of development aid in the world. The present paper deals with the territorial distribution of EU’s official development assistance (ODA). The aim of this paper is to identify the major determinants affecting the territorial allocation of ODA provided by the EU institutions and to examine whether the geographical distribution of official development assistance of the European Union institutions is influenced more by donor interests or recipient needs. The paper is devoted to the theoretical basis determining the territorial distribution of the amount of ODA and to actual distribution of aid from the EU institutions among developing countries that are eligible to receive ODA. Based on OECD data on the EU institutions aid allocation between 2010 and 2019, we conclude that the distribution is influenced by both donor self-interest (EU interests) and recipient needs (developmental needs of recipient countries). However, the most significant determinant associated with higher amounts of total net ODA disbursements seems to be the European Neighbourhood Policy status as well as the European Union (potential) candidate status of the recipient countries. Therefore, EU’s geopolitical and geostrategic interests in its neighbourhood significantly influence the decision-making process on aid allocation.