This chapter discusses the legal nature of EU development cooperation and how the competence of the EU and those of the Member States in the area relate to each other. It discusses first the distinct nature of the EU development cooperation competence, as an irregular shared or non-pre-emptive shared competence, and the effects that this has on the division of competences between the EU and its Member States. The second part of the chapter analyses how the principle of sincere cooperation, as formulated in Article 4(3) TEU, governs the management of the division of competences between the European Union and its Member States in the area of development cooperation. In particular, the obligations stemming from the principle of sincere cooperation policy are analysed in depth to answer how they govern the management of the vertical division of competences in development cooperation policy. In this respect, a distinct analysis is made of the positive duty to cooperate and the negative duty to abstain.
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