The relations between Europe and Africa: the European integration and the colonial legacy

In 1957, the six ECSC(European Coal ans Steel Community) members agreed to include the “Black Africa” in the European Economic Community (EEC) through the Treaty of Rome. The Article 131 of the Treaty of Rome identified the “Association of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)”. The Treaty of Rome first institutionalized the issue of European-African cooperation at the European Community level. The problem of including the overseas colonial territories in the European Integration Organization clearly shows the contradictions and uncertainties left by European colonial history. The colonial problem in the European integration has created ‘Europeans’ far away from geographical Europe, and extended the boundary of Europe to the Africa. As a result, this made Europe an ambiguous and fluid geopolitical entity with uncertain borders. It can be seen that the shadow of the past colonial era was still hanging in the process of European integration in the 1950s. Relations between Europe and Africa were often glorified by modifiers such as solidarity, complementarity, or interdependence, but the reality of the relationship has been constantly disproportionate. This study deals with the theme of European integration and colonization, which has been neglected in research on the history of European integration. This topic will reveal a side of the uncomfortable truth of European integration, which has not abandoned colonialism while talking about European integration.