About: EU-Africa relations
Partnership with a purpose: EU-Africa relations in 2021
The EU’s plans to strike a ‘strategic partnership’ with Africa were one the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the European Commission set out its stall in a March 2020 strategic paper, summits were cancelled and it is unclear whether EU and African Union leaders will agree on an agenda with the ambition needed for a genuine ‘strategic partnership’ this year.
CAP gets too much flak for effects on developing countries, says expert
Critics of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy’s (CAP) for its effect on developing African countries have an exaggerated view of its importance outside Europe, although some specific areas and particular products remain a cause for concern, according to a CAP expert.
EU-Africa partnership needed for transformation of food systems, says experts
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the need for EU-African collaboration is more important than ever in the drive to strengthen and transform food systems, but care must be taken to make it an equitable partnership, experts have stressed.
Time for a global Green New Deal
The EU needs a ‘global’ Green New Deal that ends the West's hypocritical relationship with overseas fossil fuel investment, writes Muhammad Magassy.
EU agrifood relations with Africa: what lies ahead?
The European Union is reshaping its approach to Africa, hoping to promote long-term sustainable food systems and help their people cope with the side-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
African leaders nix EU-AU summit as tensions simmer
Simmering institutional tensions between the EU and the African Union resulted in the last-minute cancellation of a ‘mini-summit’ between European Union and African leaders planned for Wednesday (9 December).
Building an EU-Africa partnership of equals
The COVID-19 pandemic may have temporarily derailed plans for an EU-African partnership but it has also underscored the need for such a partnership, writes Carlos Lopes.
EU can help us become ‘knowledge-based economy’, says minister
A partnership on digital policy with the European Union would offer Africa “a tremendous amount” but would also benefit Brussels, said Thulaganyo Segokgo, Botswana’s transport and communications minister, who wants to turn the country into "a knowledge-based economy".
Borrell: EU must improve its offer to Africa to remain its ‘first partner’
The EU will need to significantly improve its offer to the African continent if it is succeed in maintaining its position as its “first partner”, the EU’s chief diplomat said on Thursday (29 October).
2021 must be EU’s ‘Africa year’, says Borrell
With plans for a new EU-Africa ‘partnership’ blueprint having been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic this year, 2021 should be “the Africa year for the European Union,” the bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said during the Socialist and Democrat group’s Africa Week.
EU-Africa must be a ‘fair partnership’ of equals, say NGOs
African civil society groups want to be part of drawing up a new ‘strategic partnership’ between the EU and the African Union, in a bid to overhaul a process which many believe is deeply dysfunctional.
There’s still time to change EU-Africa agenda, say activists
As policy-makers in Brussels and Addis Ababa plough ahead with plans for what is billed as an ambitious ‘strategic partnership’ between the EU and Africa, civil society groups complain that they have been repeatedly shut out from having any influence over EU-African relations.
New EU-Africa pact must deepen trade ties, minister says
The EU and African Union must use a new ‘strategic partnership’ to deepen their trade and investment relations, participants agreed during a EURACTIV event focusing on what is likely to emerge from discussions between the two blocs.
Close EU-Africa relations more important than ever, says Socialist group leader
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of strong EU-African relations, Iratxe García, the leader of the Socialist and Democrat group in the European Parliament, told EURACTIV as her political group launched its Africa week (13-15 October).
The importance of engaging with Africa
To paraphrase the words of the American political activist Ralph Nader – if you’re not turned on to Africa, Africa will turn on you. Udo Bullmann is the S&D group Coordinator on the European Parliament’s Development Committee. Carlos Zorrinho is...
Pandemic highlights importance of EU-AU partnership
If there was any doubt about the importance of a strong relationship between Africa and the European Union they have been dispelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, says Samuel Outlule, Botswana’s ambassador to the EU and Belgium.
Pandemic has derailed EU-Africa strategy, concedes Borrell
Talks on a new EU-Africa partnership have been derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, conceded on Monday (21 September), as a key summit of the two sides has been postponed until 2021.
Countries seek removal from controversial EU ‘blacklists’
A number of countries, including Botswana, are putting pressure on the European Commission to remove them from the controversial ‘blacklists’ of tax havens and countries deemed not to be cooperating in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
‘Sovereignty and solidarity’: Germany’s plans for the EU’s foreign policy
Solidarity and sovereignty is the name of the game for the German presidency, according to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD). In a speech on Monday, he emphasised the need for greater EU independence from the current geopolitical power struggle between the US and China.
COVID-19 has posed ‘stress test’ for EU-Africa relations
The coronavirus pandemic has been a ‘stress test’ for EU-Africa relations ahead of plans for an ambitious reset of political and trade ties between the two continents this autumn.
Towards a new Africa-Europe partnership after the Corona crisis
The EU must look beyond its borders and delivers the global leadership the coronavirus crisis demands, and shape a new partnership with its closest neighbour, Africa, in the process, argue the directors of the European Think Tanks Group.
EU unveils €15bn COVID rescue plan, but includes no new money
The EU unveiled on Wednesday (8 April) a support package worth €15.6 billion for African and other partner countries hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but conceded that it includes no new money.
COVID19 crisis reveals a need for change in EU/Africa relations
As the effects of coronavirus hit the African continent, the pandemic must mean an overhaul in EU-Africa relations, argue Marta Martinelli and Bram Dijkstra.