++ GUEST CONTRIBUTION ++ In response to the Arab Spring, the European Union (EU) promised to shift away from business as usual. It aims to put support for human rights and democracy at the centre of its co-operation policy with the Arab neighbourhood. In this regard, enabling civil society to function, to advocate for citizens’ priorities and rights and to hold governments and donors to account is pivotal. However, regional consultation on EU policies appears to have been either insufficient, without impact or unappealing. Furthermore, double standards in the past have undermined the EU’s credibility ...
In the various analyses of the European External Action Service (EEAS) one year on, those who view the glass “half empty” (mostly independent analysts, journalists and think tanks) seem to have the upper hand on those who view it as “half full” (the official report). Key questions for assessing the EEAS’ performance in relation to Africa are: has the EEAS helped to upgrade the political dialogue between the EU and Africa, and increased the coherence of EU policies, while also furthering development commitments? Africa as a whole, like many other regions and issues, has struggled ...
In response to the Arab Spring the European Commission has proposed to create a new European Neighbourhood Instrument, based on the European Union’s reviewed approach to cooperation with its neighbours in North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. This new approach was set out in an EU Communication from May 2011 entitled “A new response to a changing Neighbourhood”, and is based on the following principles: “More for more” (“less for less” to be used only in extreme scenarios); Differentiation amongst countries receiving support; and Better coordination between different EU actors (European External Action ...
ECDPM is currently reflecting on the content and orientation of the next issue of its annual Challenges Inbrief. This publication is published at the start of each year, and aims to identify key issues for policy making for EU-Africa relations in the year ahead. The paper, in traditional ECDPM style, aims to be informative and ‘facilitating’, helping readers identify key debates and moments in EU development cooperation and external action. The writing process provides us with an opportunity to take a step back from our day to day work to look forward and to reflect ...
++ SERIES: ECDPM ANALYSIS OF NEW EU DEVELOPMENT POLICY REFORM PROPOSALS ++ One year ago, the European Commission published a Green Paper titled ‘EU development policy in support of inclusive growth and sustainable development – Increasing the impact of EU development policy’. This Green Paper, the first promise of a major policy reorientation under the political leadership of Development Commissioner Piebalgs, provided a basis for a public consultation in which concerned stakeholders could share their own views on the future directions of EU development cooperation. ECDPM was one of over 230 organisations who responded to ...
In the field of foreign policy and external action, the promise of the European Union’s (EU) Lisbon Treaty was for a more integrated and coherent EU, with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the European External Action Service (EEAS) at the helm. The EEAS has just published the EU Strategy for Security and Development in the Sahel region, and as it is one of the first integrated geographic strategies put forward under the new institutional setup, it might be read as an indicator for the future of EU ...
Over 60 institutional actors and individuals from various parts of Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Europe and emerging economies participated in last week’s ECDPM 25th anniversary high-level seminar entitled: “Global changes, emerging players and evolving ACP-EU relations: towards a common agenda for action”. ECDPM’s Talking Points blog online discussion held in the run up to the seminar and a background paper served as the basis for the discussions at the event, which considered options for continued ACP-EU cooperation once the current ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (commonly referred to as the “Cotonou Agreement”) expires in 2020. A ...
Talking Points audio: ECDPM's Melissa Julian interviews Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Secretary General of the ACP Group.[ 24:17 ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Over the past couple of years, new global players underscored their ascendance in the world order. Emerging economies leveraged their strong economic recovery with a rapid expansion of global trade and finance, including to developing countries. By contrast, many traditional global powers struggled to make ends meet. Countries that have been prominent donors for decades fell back on their development cooperation commitments. Many, moreover, continued to integrate their development support with responses to a host of other concerns – such as peace and security, climate change, economic recovery and growth, and food security. They now ...
The African Union Commission’s Mission to the European Union (EU) hosted a conference in Brussels on 24 May on the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Africa-EU Political Dialogue. Ambassador Emile Ognimba, Director of the Political Affairs Department of the African Union (AU) Commission, Klaus Rudischhauser, Director General of the European Commission’s (EC) Africa, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) Directorate within DEVCO and Roger Moore, Director of the European External Action Service’s (EEAS) Directorate for East and Central Africa were the keynote discussants. The Africa-EU Platform for Dialogue on Governance and Human Rights was ...
(Version française ci-dessous) When it was signed in 2000, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and the European Union was widely viewed as offering an ambitious and innovative agenda that would enhance political dialogue, encourage the participation of non-state actors and result in a more effective development cooperation framework. It therefore went beyond the narrow trade and aid focus that was the hallmark of earlier ACP-EU treaties, right from the first post-independence framework agreed in Yaoundé in 1963 through the four successive Lomé conventions implemented between 1975 and ...
