The European Union in Africa

Abstract

European Union (EU) security policies in Africa are at least as much determined by African realities as by the bureaucratic affiliations of the concerned EU actors. First, African security is a field of experimentation for the institutional actors responsible for the definition and implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) - the so-called second pillar. The European Union has rather invested in the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), which is perceived as a more straightforward policy field. The principles laid down in the Cotonou Agreement are accompanied by more concrete policies and instruments. The Franco-British rapprochement in Saint-Malo led to both the creation of the ESDP and the Europeanisation of the two countries' African policies, even though the United Kingdom has since seemed less anxious than France to Europeanise its African policy. Keywords: African security; Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); Cotonou Agreement; European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP); European Union (EU); Franco-British rapprochement