Below is the introduction of the essay. The whole text can be read here.

There is an urgent need to reassess relations between two neighbouring continents linked by geographical proximity, history, culture and destiny.

Since the first EU-Africa Summit in Cairo in 2000 there have been many dashed hopes, many unrealised expectations of our partnership, as if Europe and Africa found it hard to rise to the historical challenges facing them.

The arguments set out in this essay, which takes an optimistic viewpoint, are designed to show why relations between the EU and Africa have to change and why this change is so crucial for both continents:

• The world is changing and Africa's relationship to the world is changing in response to new economic realities and the geopolitics of globalisation.
• Africa is coveted and wants to take advantage of this despite its sometimes precarious situation.
• Europe and Africa are becoming aware of their mutual interest in forging a comprehensive, balanced and dynamic partnership to exploit the opportunities of a world with horizons far removed from the world of the past, a world of challenges that have to be met.