Paper long abstract:

EU-Africa relations are at a critical juncture in terms of mowing towards a deeper, more balanced and mutually beneficial political partnership. However, progress in this direction has been rather limited, despite existing interdependencies, expanding cooperation and multiple institutional linkages between the two continents. An effective dialogue is often hampered by the legacy of the past, the asymmetry of power, mutual mistrust or biased policy positions. Building on concrete cases, also drawn from the Corona crisis, this paper argues that making better use of existing knowledge, particularly from African sources, could help to create a more conducive level-playing field for dialogue and cooperation between Europe and Africa.