In the final stages of planning for the new European External Action Service (EEAS), there is the opportunity to make decisions that will create a new development architecture capable of truly delivering strategic action that contributes decisively to achieving a strong and coherent EU external action, whilst respecting its commitment to development objectives.

The European Think Tanks Group has written an open letter to Barroso, Ashton and Piebalgs, outlining the main challenges to development being able to play its essential role in shaping more coherent EU global action.