Europe – Africa relations in a multi-crises world: Turning the page after COVID-19, the EU-AU Summit and the war against Ukraine

This report addresses the state of Africa-Europe relations, almost one year after the 6th AU-EU Summit, providing a number of policy recommendations to African and European decision makers in four key areas of cooperation : climate change and fair energy transition; food security; peace, security and participatory governance; and development finance.

Covid-19 and the Ukraine crisis: questioning the EU-Africa partnership of equals?

EU-Africa relations have hardly followed a linear path, but the events of the past two years – namely, Covid-19 and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – seemingly put it under additional strain, allowing age-old grievances to come back in full force.

The EU-Africa peace and security partnership. Political and financial stumbling blocks and a few ways forward

The EU-Africa partnership has ebbed and flowed over the years, with the period since 2020 being particularly dynamic. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the response to the war in Ukraine and the subsequent energy crisis in Europe, cleavages have been unearthed in the partnership.

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.

Laying the foundation for a solid AU–EU partnership 

European Think Tanks Group (ETTG), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) joined forces to analyse divergences and seek consensus between the AU and the EU on key issues in the partnership. Drawing on roundtable discussions with experts from Africa and Europe, the group produced a series of policy briefs with proposals to strengthen the partnership between Africa and the EU on green transformation and climate change; economic development and trade; and participatory governance, peace and security. The briefs draw on contributions from more than 70 leading African and European independent experts, knowledge centres and think tanks that contributed reflections and suggested concrete policy recommendations. 

Towards a policy consensus: New partnership to focus on the future of Africa-Europe relations

Towards a policy consensus: New partnership to focus on the future of Africa-Europe relations

A joint press release about the recent cooperation with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and our Network on a series of high-level, closed doors virtual expert seminars for the AU-EU partnership.