African-European Relations at the Turning Point

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	African-European Relations at the Turning Point
Author:	Brigaldino, Glenn
Year:	1997
Periodical:	Africa Today
Volume:	44
Issue:	1
Pages:	51-60
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	developing countries Subsaharan Africa Africa
Subjects:	European Union development cooperation international relations
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/4187138
Abstract:	This article sketches the direction relations between Europe and Africa might take at the dawn of the new century. It examines the EU-ACP framework, which 'provides a unique opportunity for all individual [EU] member States to contribute and interact with ... all of sub-Saharan Africa ... [and] the Caribbean and Pacific regions.' The article, however, identifies problems in the smooth operation of development cooperation between the two regions, which include the failure to cultivate the potential for private and public collaboration between the EU and the ACP, unfavourable public opinion in Europe, and 'sensationalist media coverage of crises in Africa.' In a specific reference to structural adjustment programmes, the author notes that SAPs 'basically originated in the North ... then [were] projected and implemented in the South, often with only formal, if any local participation.' Regarding solutions to these problems, the author recommends that donor policies should reflect priorities and that at an early stage policy debates should engage civil society in both Europe and Africa. Notes, ref.