A Free Lunch or Lunch for Free? : A Study of EC's Reasons Behind Foreign Aid to the African,Caribbean and Pacific States

A Free Lunch or Lunch for Free is a bachelor thesis regarding European Community's (EC) foeign aid policy to many of the least developed countrise in the world. EC is not a traditional state and there is an ongoing debate if it is possible for a non-state actor to present a foreig policy. In the lack of a military army, EC has during the last decade increased the annual amount of foreign aid to be the second largest in the world and has, by that, received an instrument that has been considered powerful in foreign policy for long time. In the same time EC is founded on liberal assumptions about democracy, human rights and rule of law, but is it possible to see these values in the practical foreign aid policy? What are the purposes for EC to give away nearly $30 billion in five years to the worlds poorest and least developed countries? Is it to assist them in their escape from poverty or is it a way to make Europe more influent?