"In whose Interest?": Securitisation of European Commission Development Aid

Abstract

In light of the increased merging of the security and development concepts, this dissertation intends to analyse to what extent European Commission development aid has been securitised since its era of ‘passivism’ ended at the start of the century. In affirming this occurrence in other developed countries, this dissertation explores how and why the Commission has securitised their aid. Additional, the ramifications of this process on conceptualising the Commission and its degrees of independence will be examined. Given the unique status of the EU, this paper will also explore what effects securitisation of European Commission aid has on securitisation theory and European integration theory.