The development agenda of a large group of donor agencies, both at bilateral and European level, has been increasingly shaped by concerns for governance and democratisation since the early eighties (in particular France) and the fall of the Berlin Wall. Over this episode of 20 years it has become clear that democratisation processes in countries with strongly polarised positions among different ethnic, religious or political groups, in conflict or post-conflict situations with tense relations between such groups are – at least – problematic. How does the EU set its democratisation agenda, what is on it, what are the EU's instruments, and how is the democratisation agenda delivered?