Foreign aid
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Foreign aid: EU money only benefits the corrupt
21 December 201242516 De Standaard Brussels -
Israel: Europe's most costly "member"
18 August 2010931 Público Madrid -
Pakistan: Why is Europe so slow to react?
13 August 2010291PresseuropPresseurop -
Foreign policy: The peacekeeper's lament
21 October 2009Dziennik Gazeta Prawna Warsaw -
China: Look who's coming to Europe
23 September 2009141 Handelsblatt Düsseldorf -
Democratisation: EU too soft on hardline regimes
14 September 2009PresseuropDer Tagesspiegel -
Africa: Asia leaps as Europe lags
30 June 2009Il Sole-24 Ore Milan
According to the European Court of Auditors, it’s almost impossible to check how EU aid money is spent by developing countries. As a major EU aid fraud scandal hits Uganda, commentators in Kampala wonder why European donors continue to funnel cash into a corrupt country. 
Even though it is supposed to be a privileged partner of the European Union, Israel regularly targets infrastructure paid for by the EU during its attacks on Palestinians.
So why is Europe not demanding compensation? 
Diplomats, soldiers, policemen: from the Balkans to Afghanistan, the EU is deploying more or less ambitious peacekeeping missions. But in a report two experts assert that lack of organisation or commitment from member states means that the results often fall short of expectation, reports Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. 
Pressing ahead with its worldwide expansion agenda, China is now snatching up contracts in highly-indebted Eastern Europe. Beijing is hell bent on out-leveraging the Western competition there by offering dumping prices and cheap loans. But this is not just about fat contracts, writes the Handelsblatt: the Middle Kingdom is also buying political sway.
The European Union used to be the major partner for African governments, but it has increasingly lost ground to China, Russia and India, which now leads the race to take advantage of the continent's precious resources.