Europe & the Global South
The relationship is not one of donors and recipients. It concerns trade, energy, migration, security, debt and votes in international institutions, where interests run in both directions.
Team Europe and Global Gateway
The EU and its member states together are the world's largest provider of development assistance. Under the “Team Europe” approach, the European Commission, member states, their development banks and agencies, the European Investment Bank and the EBRD pool their instruments.
The EU's Global Gateway strategy, launched in December 2021, aimed to mobilise up to €300 billion in investment between 2021 and 2027 in energy, digital, transport, health and education. In October 2025 the Commission reported that more than €306 billion had been mobilised, two years early. Mobilisation figures include private capital and loans, so they are not directly comparable with grant aid.
The Compromiso de Sevilla
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) ran from 30 June to 3 July 2025. The outcome was adopted by 192 of 193 UN member states; the United States did not join.
Investment
An effort to close the estimated annual financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals of about US$4 trillion.
Debt
Action on sovereign debt, including a debt-swaps hub led by Spain and the World Bank.
Architecture
Reform of the international financial architecture, plus the Sevilla Platform for Action, with more than 130 initiatives.
She attended the conference. A report by deutschland.de summarised her message that Germany and the EU cannot fully replace the funding lost through US cuts. This is a paraphrase, not a direct quotation.
Mutual interests
- 01German responsibilityArguments made for it include historic emissions, colonial history and Germany's weight as a large economy and, by 2025 OECD figures, the largest DAC donor.
- 02Strategic partnershipsPartners such as Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa are economic and political actors in their own right, with their own alternatives, including China's lending.
- 03Trade & investmentEconomic partnership and investment protection agreements were debated in the Bundestag in October 2025.
- 04ClimateShared interest in a stable climate, with disputes over who pays.
- 05VoiceAt the Hamburg Sustainability Conference 2026 a South-North Commission was launched. Its influence remains to be seen.
Unsere Wirtschaftskraft, unser Wohlstand leben von internationaler Zusammenarbeit“Our economic strength and our prosperity depend on international cooperation.” (translation)
- European Commission, Global Gateway milestone, 9 Oct 2025: ec.europa.eu
- IISD on FfD4: sdg.iisd.org
- deutschland.de, Seville: deutschland.de
- OECD preliminary ODA 2025: oecd.org