Multilateralism in Africa and Europe – Answers to the Challenges of the 21st Century

Under the direction of Dr Marko Kuhn and Miriam Rossmerkel and with the spiritual guidance of Fr Professor Thomas Eggensperger OP , the focus was on a comparative examination of an international system that faces the challenge of reconciling economic interdependencies and political tensions. 

The first working units focused on European integration processes and their current challenges. Thomas Eggensperger outlined the historical lines of development and institutional foundations of the European Union and placed its legal structure within the wider framework of European cooperation. Following on from this, Dr Marko Kuhn shed light on different forms of Euroscepticism, their contexts of origin and the political tensions that arise in the interplay between national interests and multilateral decision-making.

After the thematic introductions, the first item on the agenda was a visit to the Council of Europe, where the structure, tasks and working methods of the organization were explained, in particular its role in the areas of human rights, the rule of law and democratic standards. Another appointment took the group to the European Parliament. There, the participants were given an insight into parliamentary procedures, from the preparation of political deliberations to the work in committees and the steps of a legislative process. 

After the impressions from the European institutions, the work shifted to African perspectives, which painted a multi-layered picture of regional cooperation through the interplay of contributions by KAAD scholars Gemechu Bekele and Elvis Ng'andwe and KAAD alumnus Dr Christopher Omolo. The starting point was Gemechu Bekele's introduction to the history and development of the African Union, in which he took up the different currents of early Pan-Africanism as well as the founding of the Organization of African Unity and the later reforms that led to today's AU. He focused on both the institutional structures and long-term orientations such as Agenda 2063, which set the framework for political integration and economic development. Elvis Ng'andwe followed up on these historical and institutional lines by shedding light on the economic dimension of continental cooperation using the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). His presentation linked the history of the AfCFTA with the existing regional economic communities, described the prerequisites for a common market and at the same time addressed the practical challenges that arise, for example, in defining rules of origin, customs harmonization or the digitalization of trade. In a further step, Christopher Omolo broadened the view to the geopolitical developments that shape the scope for action of African states. In doing so, he linked economic and institutional issues with regional dynamics and international shifts. 

The seminar placed a practical emphasis on a simulation game in the Simone Weil Parlamentarium. The participants worked with a model of the European legislative process, which made the various steps from the initial consultation to the decision comprehensible. This included discussions with simulated interest groups, from which political positions and priorities could be derived, as well as the formation of alliances required to push through a legislative proposal. In addition, negotiations with different organizations were simulated, in which coordination processes and lines of compromise became visible. Finally, communication with the media was simulated, which has its own role in the European legislative process in communicating, commenting on and classifying political decisions. The simulation game thus followed the central stages of the EU legislative process, as offered in the Parlamentarium, and made it possible to work on the institutional processes of multilateral politics in a vivid way.

In addition to the specialist units, several program items offered space for encounters and personal exchange. The highlight was a joint church service in the chapel of the Centre Culturel Saint-Thomas, which was celebrated by Fr. A visit to the Strasbourg Christmas markets and a historical tour of the city explained the eventful history of Strasbourg and its current appearance. 

The concluding discussions once again focused on the question of how European and African multilateral policy processes relate to each other and the significance of institutional order, economic framework conditions and geopolitical developments for regional cooperation. In particular, the shift towards a "new world order", which breaks up traditional geopolitical patterns (East-West, North-South), plays a major role here. With Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa, three countries are already part of the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), which aims to break the geopolitical dominance of the West and also assert its influence in Africa. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have turned their backs on the West following military coups, have left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Francophonie, criticize Western institutions as neo-colonial and are instead strengthening military and economic cooperation with Russia, China and Turkey in order to free themselves from French and general Western influence. These developments were strongly reflected in the discussions at the seminar because they question or run counter to the existing multilateral orders in Africa. The multilateral alliances, regional economic alliances such as ECOWAS, but also the African Union as a whole, have so far been massively promoted by development cooperation initiatives with the EU and European states. 

The thematic approaches of the past few days opened up different perspectives on the political conditions and decision-making processes that characterize multilateral cooperation in Europe and Africa, while at the same time highlighting the differences between these processes and those points where there are comparable requirements.