Paper short abstract:

This paper first provides an analysis of the evolution of political dialogue between the EU and Africa. I subsequently argue that, despite an ambitious Joint Africa-EU Strategy framework, progress remains inhibited by dated donor-recipient role conceptions still held by senior actors on both sides.

Paper long abstract:

Efforts to include political dialogue as a component of the EU and Africa's long established relationship started tentatively and were often controversial - the result of differing European and African interpretations of what political dialogue actually meant. This was symptomatic of the asymmetrical nature of the relationship, with African concerns directed at political dialogue being used as a tool through which the EU could impose conditionality at the expense of focusing on development.

Despite these obstacles, political dialogue has evolved since the first EU-Africa Summit in 2000. This progress culminated in the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES), an explicitly political partnership framework which promised more equitable dialogue between the two sides in a range of policy areas.

Yet, despite the ambitious agenda of the JAES, political dialogue remains imperfect. The first purpose of this paper is to assess the recent evolution of political dialogue, demonstrating how perceptions between the two sides converged enough to facilitate the formulation of the JAES. It is shown that mutual understanding was more evident at the EU and African Union working levels than between senior officials and heads of government, where perceptions about the nature of the relationship lagged and where traditional donor-client role conceptions often reprised themselves. The second part of the paper assesses the implications of this disjuncture between decision making levels, arguing that the gap must be comprehensively addressed if political dialogue is to flourish.