A new dialogue between the EU and Africa?

Political scientist Sebastian Wadle of the Berliner Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Berlin Foundation for Science and Politics) calls for the strengthening of multilateral relations between the EU and the countries of Africa in an interview with Sonja Fercher. "The African Union (AU) is problematic from several points of view. For one thing, a multilateral organisation like the AU can only be as good as its member states. We know this from our experiences with the UN and the EU, and one should always bear it in mind. Secondly, it is a young organisation still in the process of development and is both institutionally and financially weak. The EU's history supports the idea of promoting the AU: those who cooperate don't shoot at each other. But multilateral cooperation can be complicated: the EU has 27 member states while the AU has 53, all with different interests which must be taken into account. This entails highly complex negotiation processes, which is why institutionalisation is so important for achieving coherent agreements."

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