Breathing new life into Africa-Europe relations

The European Think Tanks Group released the report of its October conference taking stock of the current state of Africa-Europe relations. Participants from both continents noted that historical biases and contentious issues need to be addressed to speed up political dialogue. They agreed there is a need to revive the partnership at the highest political level, notably by airing tensions that hinder dialogue by addressing contentious issues such as the Economic Partnership Agreements. Breathing new life into the partnership requires accepting a view of Africa as a continent of opportunities as well as addressing inconsistencies in European external action by ensuring that European institutions and European countries speak with one voice and are consistent if applying conditionality.