The European Union Development Policy between Intention and Public Perception: ​Analysing the Role of Feedback from Project Beneficiaries

Sammanfattning: The European Union’s development policy has the primary goal to eradicate poverty at the global level and to promote sustainable development. But is the EU doing enough effort to engage the voices and the needs of the poor in order to deliver locally informed aid projects? Emerging from these complex questions, the following research explores the importance and resourcefulness of an institutionalised feedback mechanism between the development agency of the EU and beneficiaries of its funded projects. The exploration is tridimensional and begins with a social constructivist explanation on the importance of communicative action and socialization for norms sharing, by bringing examples from the metamorphosis of EU’s development policy. After an in-depth analysis of the EU’s performance in providing participatory development project management, the research dwells into the case-study analysis - its third and ultimate dimension. There, the impact of the exercise of feedback on public perception and awareness of the EU as a development actor is of most interest. Interviews with beneficiaries of EU development projects implemented in Moldova reveal polarized opinions and division lines across the society that is the biggest recipient of EU aid per capita in the European Neighbourhood.