The European Consensus on Development, adopted on 20 December 2005 by the three European institutions, defines the new policy of the European Union towards all developing countries. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) definition of developing countries, the European Consensus should apply to almost all countries covered by the ENPI.

The European Consensus very clearly states that the primary and overarching objective of EU's cooperation with developing countries is the eradication of poverty in the context of sustainable development, including the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals.

It defines key principles, which should guide Europe's relations with developing countries:

Ownership of development strategies by the partner countries
Participation of civil society
Gender equality
Addressing state fragility
In-depth political dialogue

The principle of coherence features as one of the essential elements of the European Consensus. According to this principle: “the EU shall take account of the objectives of development cooperation in all policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries, and that these policies support development objectives.” This should for instance avoid the EU to have agressive trade, agriculture or migration policies towards neighbouring developing countries receiving EC aid.