The EU–AU Trade and Development Partnership: Towards a New Era?

This paper provides an overview of AU–EU trade and development relations with a specific focus on the main structural inequalities and drivers, and suggestions for building a more equitable partnership, but also on promoting African post COVID recovery. Therefore, trade and development cooperation still remains a key area with the greatest potential to harness the relationship but also achieve the partnership’s long-term objectives. Accordingly, this paper stresses the need to take a different approach in terms of priorities and negotiating stance within the proposed new EU strategy for Africa. It also provides policy recommendations for enhancing the trade and development cooperation arrangements in order to make the mutual-interest-based partnership a reality.

Paper preparato nell'ambito del progetto “The future of AU-EU cooperation: Towards a new era?”, organizzato da Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), in collaborazione con Fondation Jean Jaurès (FJJ), e realizzato con il sostegno dell’Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). Pubblicato anche in francese: "Partenariat de commerce et développement entre l’UE et l’UA. Vers une ère nouvelle ?".