The European Commisson in collaboration with the AU Permanent Mission to the EU organised a roundtable on the 1st of April 2008 in Brussels, Belgium entitled ‘Prospects for the EU-AU partnership: institutional aspects’.
The African Union has emerged as a central political body on the international stage and as a key partner of the EU. At the Lisbon Summit in 2007, the AU and EU committed themselves to a long-term Strategic Partnership. Thus, the year 2008 is a turning point for the AU with the new elected Commission end of April, the follow up of the audit report in May in Tanzania, and the creation or reform of its different organs.
2008 is also challenging on the EU side, in particular with the monitoring and implementation process of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and its Action Plan. Effective joint institutional mechanisms have to be put in place and respective responsibilities defined.
The roundtable brought together policy makers and researchers from Africa and Europe to discuss the future relationship between the actors and stimulate further policy debate on AU-EU relations. It focused on the following questions:
1) How can the AU best accomplish its objectives and tackle the main challenges of political and economic integration?
2) Can lessons be drawn from European integration?
3) What should be done at both AU and EU levels to make the EU-AU partnership more effective and more successful?
