Regional integration

When it comes to development aid, democracy promotion or trade, the European Union (EU) is only one among Africa’s partners. The promotion of regional integration, however, constitutes a very specific feature of the EU’s external policy and of EU-Africa’s relations. This chapter provides an overview of Europe’s role in region-building in Africa since colonisation to the end of the Cold War. It looks at the EU’s promotion of regional integration within the institutional and policy framework laid out by the 2000 Cotonou Agreement and by the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES). The chapter explores the way development aid, trade and political dialogue are used by the EU as tools for promoting regionalism. It also looks at the indirect influence of the EU on Africa as a model and as an example of regional integration. The chapter concludes by assessing the current appeal of the EU model of regional integration on Africa and highlighting some future challenges.