Dr Alexei Jones is Head of European Foreign and Development Policy at the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM). His work focuses on the European Union’s external policies and international partnerships, with particular attention to the institutional and policy frameworks shaping Europe’s global engagement and development cooperation. At ECDPM he leads work on the EU’s external budget and financing instruments, including how internal EU priorities and instruments connect with the Union’s external engagement in an increasingly competitive geopolitical environment.