The EU and Africa [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Briefing 17-11-2017

The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) will hold their fifth summit on 29-30 November 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, with the aim of strengthening political and economic relations between the two continents. The focus of the meeting is on investing in youth, which is a priority for Africa, where 60 % of the population is under the age of 25. Other key topics include security, governance and democracy, human rights, migration and mobility, as well as investment and trade, skills development and job creation. Relations between Africa and the European Union are governed by partially overlapping policy frameworks. The most important ones are the EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement from 2000 and the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) agreed in 2007. Relations with Northern African countries are governed by the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EUROMED) launched in 2008 and the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). This note offers links to a series of recent studies from major international think tanks and research institutes on EU-African relations and other issues related to the continent and its countries. More reports on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can be found in a previous edition of ‘What Think Tanks are Thinking’ published in October 2017.