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Nearly three years have passed since the adoption of a revised protocol that will grant the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) legislative powers and considerably strengthen the institution within the overall African governance system. While very few countries have ratified the protocol so far, the acceleration of its ratification procedures is a priority for the recently elected PAP president. The EP and the PAP enjoy a long-standing partnership and both of them have an important role to play in monitoring ...

EU-Africa relations are governed by the Cotonou Agreement and the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, which both include political, economic and development dimensions. The EU is working actively to promote peace and security in Africa and engages with the African Union (AU) in various policy dialogues, including on democracy and human rights. Migration has emerged as a core element of Africa-EU relations. The European Development Fund remains the main channel for EU development cooperation in Africa.

Development policy lies at the heart of the European Union’s external policies. The EU has gradually enlarged its original focus on the African, Caribbean and Pacific states and now works with some 160 countries worldwide. The primary objective of the EU’s development policy is the eradication of poverty. Additional targets include defending human rights and democracy, promoting gender equality and tackling environmental and climate challenges. It is the world’s largest development donor.

The year 2013 was supposed to mark a turning point in the relations between the EU and the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Scheduled at the end of November 2013, the Vilnius Summit was supposed to bring a new impetus into the overall EaP policy. Yet two of the Partnership’s countries made sudden reversals before the summit – Armenia in September, and Ukraine only days before the meeting. In both cases, pressure from Russia contributed to the country’s change of course, forcing the EU to trim ...

The first deaths have been reported – along with cases of torture and kidnapping – in two months of anti-government demonstrations and government recalcitrance in Ukraine. Since President Viktor Yanukovych applied the brakes to the country’s advancing Association Agreement with the EU, the country has faced political and popular turmoil, with opposing positions increasingly entrenched and demonstrations increasingly marred by violence. The ruling Party of Regions has de facto retreated from its European ...

The de facto partition of the country is both a result and a cause of the political crisis in Bamako. The humanitarian situation in the north of the country has worsened, with numerous human rights violations reported. The interim institutions face difficulties in steering the transition process. The last four months of 2012 have seen the intensification of diplomatic efforts to authorise deploying an African-led force in the north of the country. The EU has called for a coherent and comprehensive ...

Following the death of Guinea-Bissau's President Malam Bacai Sanha in January 2012, Prime Minister Carlos Gomez Júnior was widely expected to win the country's presidential elections. Gomez Júnior won the first round of the elections by a significant margin, but the voting process was interrupted by a military coup on 12 April 2012. After the coup was condemned by many regional and international actors, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) deployed intense diplomatic efforts and ...

The concept of linking relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD) has been on the international agenda for decades. The model was conceived as a response to the funding gap that was identified between relief operations and longer-term development operations following disasters. While the LRRD concept has evolved over time, its implementation on the ground has remained difficult, as demonstrated by the high number of relatively uncoordinated EU responses to crises. Yet climate change, the increase ...

Despite intense preparatory efforts for the Rio+20 sustainable development conference, the event has proved a disappointment. The meeting revealed the depth of the northsouth divide, left non-governmental actors feeling sidelined and failed to either deliver concrete results or re-invigorate the thematic global agenda. The final document, titled 'The future we want', has been criticised for merely reiterating past commitments while avoiding tangible targets. Participating states did not agree to ...