Decentralised development cooperation – European perspectives (2011)

For a long time, diplomacy was a state prerogative, as national governments looked askance at relations between local and regional authorities. However, what with globalisation, municipalities and regions, with the support of their populations, have felt the need to develop exchanges so as to collaborate with their counterparts in developing countries.

Today, public decentralised cooperation is considered as a useful and necessary complement to national and European Union development policies. Indeed, it offers efficient, concrete responses to help improve the daily lives of local communities, to support the development of basic services, and to establish the conditions needed for local development.

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