South Africa And The European Union

South Africa's role and status in world politics have changed significantly over the last four decades. In the latter half of the previous century it was banished into international isolation; then, after 1994, it was exalted as a model for peaceful transition and democracy.

This book explores regionalism in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and highlights the influence of the European Union (EU) as an extra-regional actor on the organization and integration process. The analysis is guided by theory and explains the emergence, institutional design and performance of SADC’s major integration projects in the issue areas of the economy, security and infrastructure. It provides in this way a profound assessment of the organization as a whole. The study shows that South Africa plays a regional key role as driver for integration while external influence of the EU is ambivalent in character because it unfolds a supportive or obstructive impact. The author argues that the EU gains influence over regional integration processes in the SADC on the basis of patterns of asymmetric interdependence and becomes a ‘game-changer’ insofar as it facilitates or impedes solutions to regional cooperation problems.

The European Union in Africa: Incoherent policies, asymmetrical partnership, declining relevance? provides a comprehensive analysis of EU-Africa relations since the beginning of the twenty-first century and includes contributions from leading experts in the field of EU external relations. It seeks to explain how the relationship evolved through discussion of a number of different policies and agreements, ranging from established areas such as aid, agriculture, trade and security, to new areas such as migration, climate change, energy and social policies. This book successfully challenges a number of widely-held assumptions on the role of the EU in Africa, and at the same time sheds light on the role and identity of the EU in the international arena. It will be of great interest to students and scholars in the field of EU external relations as well as practitioners of international development.

On the European Community's policy toward South Africa during 1977-1987. The author deals primarily with constraints imposed on Community action resulting from the process of consensus and co- operation among the 12 member countries. The history of relations and the different economic links of the member countries with South Africa are presented and an examination of the "success" of the Community's positive and restrictive measures is undertaken. US distribution by Columbia U. Press. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This book offers a holistic and comprehensive assessment of the European Union's (EU) relations with Africa focusing on their historical, political, socio-economic, and cultural dimensions. In the high imperial period from the nineteenth century, some in Europe advocated the idea of EurafriqueA" - a formula for putting Africa's resources at the disposal of Europe's industries. After tracing Europe's historical attempts to remodel relations following African independence from the 1960s and Europe's own quest for unity, the book examines the current strategic dimensions of the relationship. Most especially, contributors examine the place of Africa in the EU's need for global partnerships. Key topics discussed include trade and investment, security and governance, migration and identity, and the historical legacy on the current relationship. The volume closely analyses the key European players in Africa - France, Britain, Portugal, and the Nordics - within the context of the EU. Finally, it examines Europe's controversial immigration policies and complex relations with the Maghreb and Mediterranean, as well as perceptions of past and current European identity. The study concludes that Africa and Europe still appear not to have escaped fully the burdens of history, and examines the feasibility of elaborating and practising, in future, an Afro-EuropaA": a new relationship defined by genuine equality, partnership, and mutual self-interest between both continents-and one that finally sheds the baggage of the EurafriqueA" past.

This book presents an up-to-date, scholarly analysis of the foreign and development policy dilemmas facing Europe today. It will be essential reading for students of development policy, external relations and international affairs.