What role do the African Union and NEPAD play in the EU-Africa dialogue?
The development of a new pan African level of governance creates a new framework for the EU-Africa dialogue. The developments should create a new political momentum and a “new raison d’être” to the EU-Africa dialogue which has been rather slow and tedious until now. The EU-Africa dialogue is the only forum and framework to discuss with the whole of Africa issues with continental implications such as debt, peace and security, regional integration and trade, political and economic governance, support to new institutional structures-and pan African initiatives (AU/NEPAD…). It is a helpful coincidence that the Cairo Plan of Action defined those themes that are best handled at continental level and constitute also the priorities of the AU and NEPAD. This is clearly the core of the added value of the EU-Africa dialogue. The success of the EU-Africa dialogue and the progress achieved should not be measured in terms of its capacity to identify new projects but in its capacity to develop common
