The November 2000 Joint Statement by the Commission and Council on EC Development Cooperation Policy affirms that the main objective of Community development policy is to reduce and, eventually, to eradicate poverty.

To help inform the EC's approach to the eradication of poverty in Middle Income Countries (MICs), this study reviews current approaches to development cooperation of both EU Member States and that of the EC, and presents recommendations on how these approaches can be made more poverty focused.