This article focuses on the MEDA assistance programme of the EU, in support of democratization in Palestine. The implementation of MEDA assistance was severely hampered by factors emanating from within the institutional set-up of the EU's foreign affairs system. First, the committee procedures, which were established to oversee the European Commission's executive work in negotiating and implementing MEDA assistance, reveal a control approach by member states that actually undermined the efficiency of policy-making. At fix same time, the MEDA Committee was not able to concentrate upon elaborating jointly with the Commission clear sector priorities for each country. Moreover, the oversight procedures relating to development aid are unilateral. The cited examples show that complementarity and co-ordination are not ensured, owing to the sovereignty of member states which enables them to pursue their own developmental policies without any meaningful co-ordination at the EU level.    «

This article focuses on the MEDA assistance programme of the EU, in support of democratization in Palestine. The implementation of MEDA assistance was severely hampered by factors emanating from within the institutional set-up of the EU's foreign affairs system. First, the committee procedures, which were established to oversee the European Commission's executive work in negotiating and implementing MEDA assistance, reveal a control approach by member states that actually undermined the efficien...    »