EU-Africa Relations in Flux: Challenges to foreign policy in the developing world John Kotsopoulos (GovInn, University of Pretoria) Carleton University – 11 March 2015

 Two part presentation:  EU-Africa relations  Breakdown changing capacities and interests of both the EU and African Union  Evolution of EU-Africa relations  From trade/aid to political dialogue and beyond  Case study  Africa’s renewed international prominence, the proliferation of S-S partnerships and the consequences for N-S relations 2 Outline

 Purpose to study recent trends (“bring Africa back in” - Söderbaum):  African agency  Africa in international relations is not simply an object or canvas to be acted upon (Harman & Brown, 2013)  Growing S-S relations  Identity politics  material and ideational implications for N-S relations  Partnership phenomenon  Instrumental? symbolic? (Olsen 2006) 3 Trends

 Institutional Change – the case of the European Union  What is the EU in Africa?  Trade and aid partner (Cotonou)  Political dialogue (Joint Africa EU Strategy)  Hegemon?  Contradictions  Normative power coupled with donor leverage  Aggressive trade opening and market liberalisation (Economic Partnership Agreements) 4 The EU and Africa

 Africa  What do we mean by “Africa” in this context  Pan-African Norm (Nkrumah)  African Union (+Morocco)  Member States  Inherent tension between levels exposed  i.e what does “Africa” want in international fora?  Africa rising narrative  Implications – material and ideational 5 Africa

 Material/physical implications of legacy  EU-ACP (a circumscribed way of interaction)  Donor-client dynamic  Asymmetry  Ideational implications of legacy o Stereotypes o (mis) trust o role expectations 6 Legacy

 Account for the Individual  Situate the individual in the negotiation process  how much space for agency?  Breaking stereotypes  Lag  Trust building  Consequences of changing perceptions  Revaluation of images  reframing of negotiation issues 7

 Three phase approach  Analysis of Partnerships  Growing number of partnerships of varying levels of engagement  Understanding Consequences on the African Union  Material (resources, time) and ideational (policy orientation) implications  Understanding Implications for the EU  Place for political dialogue  North-South relations 8 Case Study -- Partnerships

 Hypothesis:  Burgeoning growth of African partnerships with external actors (mostly representing the Global South) has expanded Africa’s global profile but also revealed cleavages at various levels of organisation, most prominently between the African Union technocracy and the member states  Parallels to Africa’s own earlier growth of overlapping regional organisations and their purpose. Cont... 9 Hypothesis

Cont...  Hypothesis:  Immense growth has precipitated move to rationalise partnerships and their purpose  Explicit focus on outputs favours the explicitly tangible – trade and aid, capacity building, etc  Bolsters regime-boosting  Where does this leave the EU?  Political dialogue challenged (ref: JAES)  EU’s normative route at crossroads? 10 Hypothesis

 Partnerships  Definition – contested (“partnerships is what you want it to be“)  Commercial linkages  Development Aid  Capacity building (security, policing)  Explore S-S and N-S  EU-Africa, USA-Africa, India-Africa, China-Africa  Dynamics of partnerships  What is acceptable in one context and is it so in another?  e.g. No Mugabe to US Summit – no problem  India, first two summits only African HoG/HoS 11 Analysis of Partnerships

 Partnerships cont..  Purpose of Interregionalism  Regionalism  Represents policy and project (association with formal programming and coordination)  Regionalisation  Process of cooperation, integration, cohesion, identity building  Regime boosting  Partnerships bring prestige (and legitimacy) to African leaders 12 Analysis of Partnerships

 Interregional Partnerships and the African Union  Capacity stress  Too many commitments renders implementation difficult  Rationalisation process in progress “Global Review of Africa’s Strategic Partnerships with Other Parts of the World” (African Union, 2012)African Union, 2012  China, India and Korea held up as exemplary partnerships  JAES identified as disappointment (and subsequently modified in 2014) 13 Analysis of Consequences of Partnerships

 Instrumentalism in Africa  Agency explicit (not an inconsequential thing)  Partnerships as tools and alternatives to old N-S order  Unintended consequences of proliferation of partnerships  Instrumental partnerships based on trade leave less space for traditional dialogue  Summits often more about pageantry than debate  Multilevel cleavages within Africa exposed  EU potential casualty as ambition to engage at political level possibly undermined  EU the permanent family member – can be taken for granted (e.g. S Africa rels w EU)  However, the ideational still relevant – though less so with respect to the EU  Identity and pull of S-S strong (leads to slackening of expectations in partnerships) 14 Conclusion