COOPERATION: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President og the AU, Moussa Faki Mahama.
Research project
Shaping a New Africa-Europe Relationship for a post-Covid-19 global order
The African Union and the European Union is engaged in a negotiation process aimed at a new strategic partnership agreement that was earmarked for the October 2020 AU-EU Summit. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the negotiations and the Summit will be postponed to 2021.
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) will undertake a collaborative project to stimulate and enrich the dialogue in Africa and Europe on the underlying geopolitical, Covid-19, peace and security and other key developments and dynamics that will influence the strategic relationship between Africa and Europe.
External events and publications:
Virtual Roundtable: After Barkhane? Future prospects for the Sahel, 17 February 2021
High-level virtual roundtable on covid-19-related debt in Africa, 8 October 2020
Andrew Lebowich: After covid: Resetting Europe-Africa relations for mutual benefit, ecfr.eu, 8 June 2020
Project Manager
Participants
Articles
How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the Africa-Europe partnership?
It is already clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to significantly disrupt the political, economic and social fabric in Africa and Europe, but how will it affect the relationship between Africa and Europe?
New publications
Pathways towards a revitalised Africa-Europe strategic partnership
The African Union and European Union were scheduled to adopt a new strategic partnership agreement at an AU-EU summit in October 2020, but it had to be postponed due to COVID-19 risks and related delays. This may be a blessing in disguise, as it gives the negotiators more time to adapt the relationship to COVID-19 and to craft an agreement that expands the focus, scope and scale of African-European relations for the next two decades.
A Comprehensive Strategy EU Strategy for Africa Political Dialogue: Governance, Security and Migration
Much has changed since the creation of the Joint Africa-European Union (EU) Strategy in 2007. The developing world has been changing fast. Development policy and practices are also transforming, albeit at a slower pace. The divide between emerging economies and ‘fragile states’ is increasing. This is also the case in Africa. As not only Africa, but also the EU-Africa relationship is changing and evolving into new dimensions, there is clearly a need to develop a new European strategy, constructed on the basis of an emerging continent. Africa is home to the youngest population in the world and some of the world’s most fragile states. However, it is also a continent with emerging markets and more effective governments. This brief aims to clarify how well the new Strategy must manage to mainstream a European approach to Africa that considers both the inter-continental dialogue and the diversity of development on this emerging continent within the fields of governance, security and migration. As the COVID-19 has turned into a pandemic, the brief also suggests that the new European strategy must reflect this development and the European Parliament should closely monitor the situation as it discusses the Strategy.