BIC-FES High Level Dialogue on Building Robust Frameworks for Joint Action and Mutual Accountability within the AU-EU Partnership

The dialogue stressed that beyond formal summits, the architecture of the AU-EU Partnership is sustained by a robust, multi-layered architecture. Continuous engagements—including Senior Officials' Meetings, Ministerial dialogues, and the Joint Steering Committee—provide vital substance between summits. This framework is deepened by dense sectoral dialogues on trade, agriculture, energy, and migration, and operationalized through monitoring mechanisms like the Joint Monitoring Report (and soon the Implementation Plan) to ensure commitments come to fruition. This reflects not only the scale of commitments and the importance of transparency, oversight, and delivery, but also a shared desire to root these promises in foundational principles of justice and equity. This calls for the Commissions to look beyond the existence of dialogue and envision a peaceful and prosperous future—ensuring that every engagement is inclusive, useful, and driven by tangible outcomes that benefit all citizens.

Participants also stressed that in addition to the existing platforms for exchanges between and among officials and think tanks the AU-EU Partnership should encompass a diversity of voices, including youth and women leaders, civil society, economic innovators and grassroots communities. They also stressed that it is about time the partnership is analyzed in a different lens other than economic aspects giving priority to the social and material well-being of the diverse inhabitants of Africa and Europe. Conversation during the dialogue recognized that the two Commissions have already been trying to identify ways and means to involve Africans and Europeans in the partnership, but it has proven challenging to identify the mechanisms for their meaningful involvement. Even so, there is strong agreement between the Commissions on achieving this objective. Although there are differences between the two continents, there are still opportunities to create a common understanding about the issues facing their people.

The importance of building institutions capable of shared learning was also one of the key outcomes of the AU-EU Dialogue stressing on the need to establish a dedicated space to co-produce knowledge and strategy informed by past experiences. A few considerations forwarded in this regard were the creation of spaces that are regular, broadly participatory, and equipped with clear mechanisms to feed directly into decision-making and encourage systematic follow-up. These spaces should host truthful, periodic reviews centered on whether the needs of the people are being adequately addressed, actively identifying blind spots and elevating excluded groups, rather than simply a ‘monitoring’ exercise where one side judges the other.

One of the greatest assets available to both Africa and Europe is the combined experience and innovation of their people. The roundtable acknowledged the inclusion of the CSO Youth Forums ahead of the 2025 Ministerial meetings and the Summit in Angola as major milestones. A joint AU-EU task force co-created the agenda for the first time, introducing several highlights: the formulation of joint recommendations, the appointment of rapporteurs, and a direct link between grassroots input and the summit process. Building on this experience, the momentum must now be used to shape the way forward. To ensure sustainable growth, formal institutions, systems, and processes must welcome new voices early enough to help shape strategic priorities, rather than merely inviting civil society into spaces to validate predetermined agendas. Continuous engagement must transcend ad-hoc forums so citizens are active co-creators of policy rather than commentators after decisions are made.To ensure this continuity, participants supported operationalizing Point 34 of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and European Parliament (EP) Joint Declaration, which calls for a Permanent PAP-EP Civil Society and Youth Forum. 

A key question remains: How can the participation of those in the Forum truly reflect the needs and aspirations of all African and European citizens, not just selected groups? Participants also noted that the partnership would need to strengthen systems of trust. While robust policy frameworks for systemic peacebuilding already exist, the immediate challenge is translating these frameworks into tangible pathways on the ground by strengthening preventative measures and ensuring inclusive participation. Please read Summary Report: Roundtable on Joint Action and Mutual Accountability (AU-EU Partnership) for further details.