FROM DEPENDENCY TO PARTNERSHIP: WHERE ARE AU–EU RELATIONS HEADING?

The document examines the historical transition of AU–EU relations from the 1963 Yaoundé Convention through the Lomé Convention and Cotonou Agreement to the current Joint Africa–EU Strategy (JAES). It argues that despite institutional efforts to create an equal partnership, the EU continues to set the agenda and financial scope, maintaining a dependency model. The brief highlights key priorities for the November 2017 Abidjan Summit, including youth employment, migration, and energy grid investment, while recommending that the AU take a more proactive role in agenda-setting and pursue self-financing mechanisms to reduce donor reliance.

• The relationship between the AU and EU has historically been characterized by dependency, with the EU continuing to dictate the agenda and the scope of financial assistance.
• Past frameworks like the Lomé Convention entrenched dependency through non-reciprocal trade, and subsequent efforts to establish reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) under the Cotonou Agreement have been difficult; as of October 2017, only 13 countries had concluded an EPA with the EU.
• The Joint Africa–EU Strategy (JAES) has seen poor implementation, with only 40% of its intended activities having taken place, and its objectives remain focused on African needs for European support rather than mutual learning.
• The 2017 AU–EU Summit in Abidjan focuses on 'Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through Investments in the Youth', linking youth opportunities and energy grid investment to the mitigation of the EU's inward migration crisis.
• African leaders have expressed concerns that the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), established via the 2015 Valletta Dialogue to tackle migration, was designed without sufficient African input and is perceived as an EU-imposed agenda.
• To move toward a true partnership, the author recommends that the AU submit its own proposed agenda to the EU, empower youth in dialogues, and pursue self-financing mechanisms to end donor dependency.

APA

Bertelsmann-Scott, T. (2017). FROM DEPENDENCY TO PARTNERSHIP: WHERE ARE AU–EU RELATIONS HEADING? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-167.pdf

Chicago

Bertelsmann-Scott, Talitha. FROM DEPENDENCY TO PARTNERSHIP: WHERE ARE AU–EU RELATIONS HEADING? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2017. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-167.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bertelsmann-Scott |first1=Talitha |title=FROM DEPENDENCY TO PARTNERSHIP: WHERE ARE AU–EU RELATIONS HEADING? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=November 2017 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-167.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bertelsmannscott2017from, author = {Bertelsmann-Scott, Talitha}, title = {{FROM DEPENDENCY TO PARTNERSHIP: WHERE ARE AU–EU RELATIONS HEADING?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Policy-Briefing-167.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }