Ready for a common Africa-Europe future? Our reflections beyond the 6th EU-AU summit

The 6th EU-AU summit, held in Brussels on 17-18 February 2022, marked an important milestone
in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). After almost a
year and a half of delay, the summit provided leaders of both European and African countries
an opportunity to negotiate on a series of key topics that will shape the future of their relations.
Additionally, the summit provided a further opening for the regional bodies and their member
states to move away from an asymmetrical top-down relationship to a more vertical partnership
in which both sides negotiate deals based on sound analysis, trust and mutual respect.

Putting Development at the Centre of G20 Policy Agenda: Lessons for the T20

Our ETTG Coordinator Daniele Fattibene has published an IAI paper on how the Think20 (T20) can support the G20 Development Working Group (DWG) to boost the G20 legitimacy on development cooperation worldwide. The paper, that benefited from the review of ETTG members like Geert Laporte and Niels Keijzer, addresses strengths and weaknesses of the G20 DWG, providing policy recommendations on how the DWG and T20 can feed better into each other’s policy agendas, increasing their chances to influence other G20 tracks on crucial development issues such as development finance, food security or the global climate agenda.

Strengthening the AU-EU partnership on the economic development and trade agenda

This brief identifies some of the shared priorities between Africa and the European Union (EU) as well as challenges in their partnership as it currently stands. It also suggests concrete ways forward to strengthen the economic development and trade agenda of the AU-EU cooperation and gives policy recommendations towards a more effective partnership.

Fixing UN financing: a Pandora’s box the World Health Organization should open

In a context of existential transnational challenges and growing inter-state rivalries, we need well-financed, universal multilateralism that can set global rules and norms, drive forward action, and sidestep the tendency for money and military might to buy global influence. The WHO Executive Board now has an opportunity not only to reinvigorate its own organisation, but also to advance a discussion on how the entire UN system can be placed on a stronger, more financially sustainable footing. Passing up this moment out of fear of the implications for member state fiscal obligations to the wider UN system would be both unfortunate and short-sighted.

The rise of public development banks in the European financial architecture for development

Elcano and ETTG have published the report on the rise of public development banks in the European financial architecture for development which shows how PDBs are critical in promoting resilience to shocks (financial, economic, pandemic, climate, etc.), stabilise the economy and foster a more rapid long-lasting recovery. The report also stresses  the importance of medium- and long-term finance for development that  can help building markets and promoting economic transformation in a  sustainable, green, inclusive and gender-sensitive manner.  

Synthesis note: Strengthening the continent-to-continent dialogue on sustainable development

This synthesis note presents one-page overviews of the main findings and recommendations in relation to the five themes, which are discussed in greater detail in the policy briefs that have been published during the past months. A link to the full policy brief is included at the end of each one-pager. These thematic overviews are preceded by a short analysis of the relationship between Africa and Europe and five proposals for strengthening the continent-to-continent dialogue on sustainable development.

Towards a renewed Africa-Europe Partnership for Investment

The COVID-19 crisis has created a dire need for the active facilitation of sustainable investment to promote an inclusive, gender-sensitive and green recovery. The partnership between the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), and their respective member states, can provide a strategic and institutional framework for stimulating sustainable investment in a collective manner.