EU-Africa
The European Commission and EU Member States adopted the joint EU-Africa Strategy and Action Plan jointly with the African Union at the second EU-Africa summit, which was held in Lisbon on 7-8 December 2007. Since the Strategy was signed the EU and the African Union have been discussing the implementation of the Action Plan, but the process has been very slow and confused.
The African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU) have set up a website where you can find relevant documents and a blog for civil society.
New Bond publication on EU and Africa relations
The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and Bond have published 'The EU and Africa, the Policy Context for Development' a new publication that examines the political and institutional context which frames the relations between the EU and Africa from a development perspective. By looking at the two main agreements between the two continents, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement and the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and at how they interact, the brief highlights lobbying opportunities and ways of influencing EU development policies and practice in relation to Africa.
What is Bond doing?
In reaction to the initial Strategy released in 2005, Bond submitted a call for evidence on the EU-Africa Strategy to the House of Lords. In 2007, Bond engaged in the official consultation process managed by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and made a submission on the EU-Africa strategy.
Additionally, Bond European Policy Group felt that the voices of our African partners should be heard in this debate and started gathering a range of opinions and perspectives from Bond members and their African partners to inform the future direction of our collective advocacy. The result of that was the 'African Voices' publication, which set out our partners reactions and expectations from the Strategy.
Currently, Bond is working with African and European partners to foster a genuinely new relation between Africa and Europe. The focus is now on implementation of the Action Plan approved in Lisbon, including the set up of Joint Experts Groups (governments, business and civil society) leading on each of the eight partnerships. The Bond European Policy Group is working closely with the CONCORD EU Africa Working Group to ensure civil society participation and transparency of the process.
Read the CONCORD statement on the Joint Africa EU Strategy - March 2010
Read more about civil society participation in the process
What you can do...
Get involved in the Bond European Policy Group.
Check the Europafrica.org website for more information on the Strategy and for the latest updates.
Find out more about the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, download African Voices, read reports, listen to debates, and watch interviews on Bond’s EU-Africa Strategy page.
