Търсене

Africa is the continent most affected by energy poverty, with more than 40 % of its population lacking access to electricity. This is in spite of an extremely high potential for renewable energy generation and an increasing number of fossil fuel developments on the continent. Through its development cooperation programmes, the EU has committed significant funds to reduce energy poverty in its partner countries in Africa. These programmes aim to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 7, which ...

The EU’s approach to preventive diplomacy is embedded in a wider ambition to ‘preserve peace, prevent conflicts and strengthen international security’. Given deteriorating security and increasing geopolitical tensions worldwide, it is evident that preventive diplomacy requires sustained and enhanced attention by the EU. Regarded as a credible and reliable partner – as well as an international frontrunner in preventive diplomacy – continued violence and conflict in Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh, Kosovo ...

Adding to a succession of coups in the Sahel region, the 26 July ousting of Niger's democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum is already having major consequences in the region and for the credibility of the African Union and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It also challenges the security architecture that the European Union (EU), France, other EU Member States, such as Germany and Italy, and the United States sought to build in the Sahel to fight terrorism. Jihadist attacks ...

Year after year, tens of thousands of people try to reach the EU from the coasts of Turkey and Africa, risking their lives at sea. Irregular migration to Europe is predominantly concentrated in the Mediterranean, where there are frequent reports of people being rescued at sea and of shipwreck incidents. Between January and June 2022, on average five people died per day during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea, according to the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), and 28 021 persons have ...

The partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states (the 'Cotonou Agreement') was due to expire in February 2020. The EU and the then ACP Group of States – which later became the Organisation of the ACP States (OACPS) – started negotiations on a 'post-Cotonou' agreement in September 2018. The EU and the OACPS agreed on the principle of a common foundation complemented by three regional protocols. However, the multi-level negotiations, the ...

On 26 July 2023, a coup by his military entourage overthrew President Bazoum in Niger. On 30 August, just after President Ali Bongo had been officially declared elected for a third term in Gabon, a group of military officers announced his removal from office and arrest, and suspended the constitution. These latest coups add to the growing list of unconstitutional changes of government in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. During the September plenary, Question Time with the High Representative/Vice-President ...

This briefing provides an insight into the implications of the EU's Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Kenya – with a particular focus on the extent to which it could affect regional trade in the East African Economic Community (EAC) and the African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). It examines the new EPA and its implications in terms of its trade schemes as well as provisions in the area of sustainable development. It provides an overview of key factors that may affect regional and intra-African ...

During the July session, question time with the Commission will focus on the state of play of the EU-Africa strategy – notably in the context of the impacts of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) have converging interests in a number of areas, such as the fight against climate change and the promotion of sustainable, job-creating economic growth in Africa. However, they still have to find common ground on migration, security management, and ...

On 19 June 2023, the EU and Kenya concluded negotiations on an economic partnership agreement (EPA). This agreement builds on negotiations for an EPA with the partner states of the East African Community (EAC) – at the time: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda – which were finalised in October 2014. However, the signing of the EU-EAC EPA had been stalled because of discussions within the EAC on the consequences of the EPA for their economies. Except for Kenya, all EAC partner states are ...