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Policy Departments’ Monthly Highlights January 2024
Developing countries' energy needs and priorities under a sustainable development perspective: The specific case of Africa and green hydrogen
Africa is the continent most affected by energy poverty, with more than 40 % of its population lacking access to electricity. This is in spite of an extremely high potential for renewable energy generation and an increasing number of fossil fuel developments on the continent. Through its development cooperation programmes, the EU has committed significant funds to reduce energy poverty in its partner countries in Africa. These programmes aim to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 7, which ...
International Agreements in Progress - After Cotonou: Towards a new agreement with the African, Caribbean and Pacific states
The partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states (the 'Cotonou Agreement') was due to expire in February 2020. The EU and the then ACP Group of States – which later became the Organisation of the ACP States (OACPS) – started negotiations on a 'post-Cotonou' agreement in September 2018. The EU and the OACPS agreed on the principle of a common foundation complemented by three regional protocols. However, the multi-level negotiations, the ...
Question time: EU-Africa strategy
During the July session, question time with the Commission will focus on the state of play of the EU-Africa strategy – notably in the context of the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) have converging interests in a number of areas, such as the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable, job-creating economic growth in Africa. However, they still have to find common ground on migration, security management, and ...
EU Financial assistance to Africa and Latin America 2021-2027
This briefing gives an overview of the different kind of EU funding for Africa and Latin America. Short explanations of the different types of funding are given and tables are provided with the different amounts targeting Africa and Latin America. The main EU budget instrument for funding for Africa and Latin America is the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe (NDICI). Besides the NDICI there are other funds that address humanitarian aid and emergency ...
Ways forward for EU-Africa trade and investment relations
Africa-EU trade relations have a longstanding tradition. The EU remains the biggest trading and investment partner for most African countries, especially for those implementing Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) with the EU. The workshop shall provide a data-based discussion of the impact of current EPAs on economic regional development (and recent trends on intraregional economic integration in Africa) as well as an overview of EU's sustainable investment facilitation agreements negotiated with ...
The Horn of Africa
Food insecurity and violent conflict plague the eight Horn of Africa countries (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Uganda). A hub on the Red Sea trade and migration routes, bordering the unstable areas of the Sahel and central Africa, the region is of strategic interest for the EU. The EU's policy for the Horn of Africa initially focused on development, but is now set to tackle security issues too in the wake of piracy attacks and the rise in instability. Parliament ...
Tracking the EU Commissioners’ commitments - Von der Leyen Commission, 2019 - 2024: Jutta Urpilainen
This briefing follows up the commitments made by the commissioner since 2019.
Plenary round-up – June II 2022
The highlight of the June II 2022 plenary session was the vote to overwhelmingly endorse the granting of candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, and – once it meets the conditions set out by the Commission – Georgia. On the evening of 23 June, EU leaders did indeed follow suit. Members debated preparations for that European Council meeting taking place on 23-24 June 2022, including the meeting with Western Balkan leaders on 23 June. The Parliament also debated with the Commission and Council the ...
The future of EU-Africa trade relations
The European Parliament is due to discuss ways to foster ethical and sustainable trade relations with African countries during its June II plenary session, in a context of global challenges compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war on Ukraine.