EU의 국제개발협력법제에 대한 연구

The field of international development cooperation has recently been undergoing rapid change. A representative example is that, in the United States, following the inauguration of the second Trump Administration in 2025, the long standing agency responsible for international development cooperation - the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - was closed and the international development cooperation budget was drastically reduced. In Europe as well, the sector of international development cooperation budget has been affected by the increase of defense budget due to geopolitical factors such as the war in Ukraine. Against this backdrop of shifting international circumstances, this article examines the EU’s legal framework for international development cooperation in order to explore ways to advance Korea’s international development cooperation law. The main characteristics of the EU’s international development cooperation legal framework can be summarized as follows. First, law occupies a prominent place within the EU system of international development cooperation. The EU’s legal framework consists of hard law with binding force, such as the Treaty on European Union (TEU), the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), agreements with ACP(African, Carribbean and Pacific) countries, Regulation on establishing Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and soft law without binding legal force, such as the “New European Consensus on Development”. Among these, hard law plays the central role. Second, the EU’s legal framework for international development cooperation has traditionally emphasized universal values such as democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and good governance. This reflects the EU’s strong interest in exercising international leadership with respect to these values. Third, while underscoring such universal values, the EU has simultaneously stressed coherence with its other policies. This has been concretized in the notion of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD). Fourth, the EU has favored a contractual approach through entering into agreements with partner countries. The Lomé Convention (1975), the Cotonou Agreement (2000), and the Samoa Agreement (2023) are examples. The focus of these agreements has gradually shifted with the times; in the most recently concluded Samoa Agreement, six areas are set as priorities: (1) human rights, democracy, and governance; (2) peace and security; (3) human and social development; (4) inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development; (5) environmental sustainability and climate change; and (6) migration and mobility. This EU legal framework - centered on law, oriented toward universal values, emphasizing policy coherence for development, and valuing agreements with partner countries - now faces numerous challenges amid today’s geopolitical changes. Nevertheless, due to the EU’s multi‑level governance structure, no direct, immediate transformations have yet occurred within the EU’s international development cooperation legal system. The substance and current state of the EU’s legal framework for international development cooperation offer many implications for the Republic of Korea.