This thesis assesses the role of three pro-European pressure groups (the European Union of Federalists, the Socialist Movement for the United States of Europe and the European League for Economic Cooperation) and their impact in fostering new relations between Europe and the colonies between 1947 and 1957. It argues that the association of the overseas territories into the European Economic Community in 1957, the founding stone of today's European policy for aid and development, was to a large extent the result of the intense intellectual activity that took place in these transnational groups upstream of the signature of the Treaty of Rome. Emphasising the role of European pressure groups in the EEC association policy goes against the stream of current historiography on the issue, which tends to focus on national strategies at stake during the negotiations. A transnational/pressure group approach offers new insights into the history of relationships between the EEC and Africa. First, such an analysis sets the origins of the European Development policy at 1947 - when the groups were created - rather than 1957. Second, whilst many previous studies placed France as the sole initiator of the association policy, a transnational approach enables us to see that British and Belgian elites also played a crucial role in its development. By adopting a purely national framework of analysis, previous authors have failed to see the broader objectives of the European association policy. Pro-European groups indeed hoped that the association would, in the long run, establish a federal Eurafrican community or an economic European Commonwealth that would revive the declining links between Europe and its overseas territories.

Multilateral relations between the EU and Africa stretch back to the very founding of the European Economic Community. Based originally on a trade and development aid model, and channelled via successive framework agreements between the EU and Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the relationship sustained a donor-client arrangement for decades. Efforts at changing this historic structure began tentatively and often controversially but took on a bolder dimension in the 2000s with the establishment of the African Union and the evolution of EU foreign policy. The most notable output of this new impetus was the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JABS). The Strategy was an ambitious attempt to broaden areas of cooperation between the sides and redress the imbalance that had hitherto characterised the relation, ship. . Yet structural change represented by the JABS required not only a reconstitution of the physical framework through which the sides interacted, it also demanded change at the ideational level. Long held perceptions (images, biases and stereotypes), coupled with fickle levels of trust, proved a significant cognitive barrier to change. To assess change between the EU arid Africa an in-depth analysis of the negotiation of the JABS is posited, using an approach motivated by cognitive analysis of perceptions of self, other and situation. Interviews conducted with most of the negotiators from both the EU and AU revealed notable redressing of previously held beliefs, with consequences for the way in which the negotiations were not only perceived but also conducted. The AU even enjoyed a degree of power based on its ability to successfully drive many of the initiatives of the JABS -a different manifestation of how the weak can sometimes "punch above their weight". However, it is a1so shown that not all actors were capable of perception change. By breaking down the constituents privy to the negotiations (using levels), it is demonstrated that decision makers further removed from the negotiation process held views that did not necessarily correspond to those of their more engaged colleagues. This led to clashes, contrasting motivations and the unwittingly replication of some of the historic asymmetries that the JABS was meant to banish.

Increased regional integration in Europe, Africa and Asia is a defining feature of the 21st century. This increase has been followed by the growth of region-to-region collaboration (inter-regionalism) as a means of international cooperation. In the past, EU-Africa relations mainly served as a medium for economic cooperation however, this is now changing with the inclusion of security cooperation in EU-Africa relations. This new relationship was explicitly outlined in the 2007 Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES). Within the new relationship, security cooperation through inter-regionalism is founded on the principles of equality, partnership and ownership. Despite these shifts, academic research has not caught up to examining the reasons and implications of security through inter-regionalism. The thesis therefore explores the extent to which security cooperation has contributed to changes in contemporary EUAfrica relations. In this context, the thesis specifically evaluates security cooperation between the EU and Africa primarily through the African Union (AU). The thesis develops institutionalised interregionalism as a framework through which this new type of international cooperation is best understood. It assesses two cases of EU support for new security initiatives in Africa. The first case study examines the efforts to create functional battle ready groups for peace missions. The second case study evaluates the European Union’s commitment to small arms control initiatives through the African Union. It does this by applying the historical institutionalism theoretical approach to the empirical concept of inter-regionalism. The thesis uses a multi-method qualitative approach including elite interviewing, non-participant observation, documentary and narrative analysis. The thesis finds that while the inter-regionalisation of security cooperation constitutes a shift in EU-Africa relations, changes to the institution are more likely when the EU is internally coherent, coordinated and employs a division of labour model to implement its support for the African Peace and Security Architecture. The lack of division of labour among EU actors has been impeded by lack of political will on the part of EU Member States as well as a ‘turf war’ or competition between the European Commission and Member States. The competition within the EU has been particularly detrimental to a region-to-region approach in EU-Africa relations. The lack of a single or streamlined approach undermined some of the AfricanUnion’s peace and security aims. In addition, the limited capabilities of the African Union, has negative implications for the implementation processes of the peace and security cooperation as it undermines the aspirations of ownership and partnership. This research thesis makes a substantive contribution to the literature on EU external relations generating new insights into the changing nature of international cooperation based on regionalism. It moves beyond the discourses on EU challenges in achieving common positions on security matters. Rather, it focuses on challenges (and opportunities) occurring in EU external relations despite the common positions. Additionally, it contributes to the debates in EU-Africa relations beyond the development focus of the literature to consider insights from the empirical reality of security cooperation. Finally, the thesis contributes to the burgeoning literature on burden sharing in international security through division of labour among international actors. The thesis is therefore relevant to current trends in the study and practice of international relations.