Category: Blogs

This page presents the ETTG’s most recent Blogs. Previous Blogs can be perused below or may be filtered by clicking on the topic labels on your right.

COVID-19 In-depth Analysis: Continuity and Change in European Union-Africa Relations on Peace and Security
ECDPM / Blogs

Continuity and Change in European Union-Africa Relations on Peace and Security

The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) maintain a long-standing partnership on peace and security which can be qualified as constructive. It is largely based on joint interests and objectives and is less contentious compared to other more challenging topics, such as migration and trade. The EU’s new seven-year budget for 2021 – 2027 introduces new ways of working which impact on how the EU will engage on peace and security in Africa. Most notable in this regard is the establishment of the European Peace Facility (EPF) which can potentially undermine the AU’s role in leading and coordinating peace and security measures on the continent. Moreover, these new developments take place against the backdrop of an overall troubled EU-AU relationship which suffers not only from the divergences in interests in key areas such as migration, trade and climate but also from the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and global geopolitics.

Programming the NDICI in times of COVID-19: Five takeaways from a recent webinar
ECDPM / DIE / Blogs

Programming the NDICI in times of COVID-19: Five takeaways from a recent webinar

The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) represents a fundamental reform for the European Union (EU)’s development policy, its neighbourhood policy and its external action more broadly. The new instrument will be implemented in a rapidly changing geopolitical context and will have to respond to unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The 2021 ENP South Communication: A ‘renewed partnership’ but ‘old issues’ remain
DIE / Blogs

The 2021 ENP South Communication: A ‘renewed partnership’ but ‘old issues’ remain

The European Commission DG NEAR and the office of the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy released a new policy statement (‘Communication’) ‘Renewed Partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood: A New Agenda for the Mediterranean’ on 9 February 2021. The Communication was accompanied by a staff working document ‘Renewed Partnership with the Southern Neighbourhood Economic and Investment Plan for the Southern Neighbours’. The priorities outlined in the Communication and the investment Plan are to be concretised during 2021 as the new ‘Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), which will finance the EU’s international cooperation, is programmed during 2021. 

Putting ‘Policy Coherence for Peace’ at the Heart of the EU’s Approach to External Crises and Conflicts
DIE / Blogs

Putting ‘Policy Coherence for Peace’ at the Heart of the EU’s Approach to External Crises and Conflicts

The adoption of the EU’s Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027 will bring profound changes to the set-up of the EU’s instruments for crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding in fragile and conflict-affected countries, which aim to improve the EU’s ability to engage in these contexts. However, reforming the EU’s financial instruments alone is not sufficient to address key underlying challenges. What is needed is an overarching strategic framework that puts policy coherence for sustainable peace at the centre of EU crisis prevention, conflict management and peacebuilding. 

Building resilience to COVID-19: Next steps for the EU-AU digital partnership
ECDPM / ODI / Blogs

Building resilience to COVID-19: Next steps for the EU-AU digital partnership

It is vital for the EU-AU partnership to improve digital infrastructure development in Africa, particularly expanding fixed broadband coverage and access, as well as to improve African firms and consumers’ access to e-commerce platforms and provide targeted support for digital transformation in key sectors such as agriculture.

Challenges for the development-security nexus in EU foreign policy
IAI / Blogs

Challenges for the development-security nexus in EU foreign policy

The development-security nexus has become a central concept for the European Union (EU) and other international actors. Key EU documents recognise the importance of the link between these two main domains of EU external affairs. This is part of a wider framework of the so-called triple nexus between humanitarian aid, development and security, which the European Commission aims to enhance to better respond to protracted crises.

The AU-EU Summit didn’t prove immune to COVID-19 – but that may be a blessing in disguise
Covid-19 / ECDPM / Blogs

The AU-EU Summit didn’t prove immune to COVID-19 – but that may be a blessing in disguise

This year was supposed to be crucial for Africa-Europe relations, culminating in the sixth AU-EU Summit, scheduled for 28 and 29 October in Brussels. But then COVID-19 happened. After a long palaver, a decision was finally taken: the summit will be postponed to 2021, although a date still needs to be fixed. Geert Laporte explains why postponing may not be such a bad thing.

How to avoid the aid trap in the AU-EU strategic relationship
ECDPM / Blogs

How to avoid the aid trap in the AU-EU strategic relationship

COVID-19 has had far-reaching effects all over the world, the most visible of which on the world economy and public health. Could it also have an impact on Europe-Africa relations? With an EU-AU summit scheduled for late 2020, the pandemic will undoubtedly play a central role in it. Can the two continents avoid the usual aid mindset and move on to a more strategic one? Fernando Jorge Cardoso reflects on the nature of Europe-Africa relations since 2000 and argues that separating aid from strategy could help relaunch the relationship.

Metadrasi - Reforming asylum in Europe: Lessons from local actors in Greece
ECDPM / ETTG / Blogs

Reforming asylum in Europe: Lessons from local actors in Greece

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an additional layer of difficulty for refugees and asylum seekers, with frontline states like Greece facing unprecedented pressure in dealing simultaneously with a  humanitarian crisis and the health crisis. The situation calls for EU states to speed up the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) since the current impasse is exacerbating the life conditions of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers.