It is spending increasing political energy asking how to stop people reaching its borders, when the more consequential question is what happens long before they get there. If Europe wants to use its external aid to strengthen its own security and prosperity, it must answer that question in the next seven-year budget cycle.
Lasting prosperity and security require investment much earlier – where displacement begins, where refugees are first received and where fragile societies are most at risk of buckling under such prolonged pressure. Most solutions are there, not at Europe's border.
