Three interwoven actors, readjusting positions: EU-Africa relations and the post-Cotonou partnership

Carbone, M. (2021) Three interwoven actors, readjusting positions: EU-Africa relations and the post-Cotonou partnership. In: Fargion, V. and Gazibo, M. (eds.) Revisiting EU-Africa Relations in a Changing World. Edward Elgar: Northampton, pp. 191-203. ISBN 9781839109812 (doi: 10.4337/9781839109829.00024)

Abstract

This chapter traces the formation of the negotiating positions of the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, the African Union (AU), and the European Union (EU) in view of the negotiation for a new EU-ACP partnership following the expiration of the Cotonou Agreement in February 2020. It shows how each of the three actors substantially changed their initial stances, with clashes occurring between the EU and Africa's representatives as well as within the two sides on the form (institutional architecture) more than the substance (strategic priorities). Such divergences, it is argued, ultimately compromised, on the one hand, the EU's ambition to promote a more coherent approach to Africa, and, the other hand, Africa's attempt to enhance its agency in international affairs.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Carbone, Professor Maurizio
• Authors: Carbone, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Publisher: Edward Elgar
• ISBN: 9781839109812