This study analyses in a comprehensive manner the theoretical and practical significance of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and “good governance” in the Lomé and Cotonou Treaties. After a more political-scientific examination of the various theories of development and the history of relations between the EU and the ACP states, the work focuses on a legal-dogmatic analysis of the significance of important human rights in the context of the second half of Lome IV (1995 to 2000). Although Annette Windmeißer is positive about the EU’s pioneering role in sustainably linking the development and human rights discourses, she is not sparing in her criticism of the way the EU deals with its objectives in practice. The author benefits from the fact that. In addition to her legal training in Germany, she also has profound knowledge of development policy theory and practice and was able to put her experience as an employee in the German Federal Ministry for Development Cooperation to good use.