Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa are often plagued with disorientation and sub-par trade relations. It is well-established that extra-continental trade partnerships between Africa and the West have resulted in the delaying of industrialisation and the subsequent growth in intra-continental and intra-regional trade. This study aims to determine whether the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), engineered by the European Union (EU) between Africa and the EU have been beneficial to Africa's quest for regional economic integration. This was done through qualitative research. The theoretical perspective of Neofunctionalism is used in order to explore how scholars perceive regional integration. This is accompanied by some conceptual lenses stemming from the umbrella of New Regionalism theory, particular these are: Open Regionalism, The WIDER Approach, Regionalism from Below (New Regionalisms), as well as the External Guarantors Model. The study showed that the trade and economic agreements the EU established with Africa have been asymmetrical and have left Africa as a producer of raw materials. Thus, while the EPAs may produce some positive outcomes for Africa, the costs far outweigh the benefits. The EPAs have the potential to negatively affect Africa's quest to establish a thriving African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). In this regard, the EPAs are detrimental to, rather than enhancing Africa's regional integration efforts. Africa's regional economic communities (RECs) are critical to the success of the AfCFTA. Future trade agreements between Africa and the EU should therefore be crafted in ways that enhance Africa's regionalism.

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Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

[The European Union (EU) is severely lacking in terms of intelligence capabilities, as members have repeatedly noted in various resolutions over the last five years. Despite existing models for intelligence-sharing, like Europol and the Schengen Information System, the EU has failed to build a central intelligence function to serve its Common Foreign and Security Policy. Several events in the last year have accelerated the need for a common European intelligence system: The terrorists who launched the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001 had been operating within EU member countries for some time, yet EU members only realized this after the attacks had happened, when European intelligence agencies began sharing information with each other and the United States. If such intelligence-sharing had existed prior to the attacks, the terrorists' plan may have been thwarted. The EU also has found an increasing need for its members to share criminal intelligence on organized crime, money laundering and counterfeiting since the EU unveiled its common currency, the euro, on Jan. 1, 2002. But the most pressing need for a common intelligence function is one to guide the EU's military force, which is to be deployed next year. There is a saying that an army is blind without intelligence, and the EU must develop an intelligence function before any troops are sent abroad. But there are a few challenges to building an intelligence system: Britain's cozy relationship with the United States, which threatens Britain's ties to fellow ED members; concern from NATO and the U.S. that an ED intelligence agency would compete with their intelligence systems; and long-held bilateral intelligence-sharing agreements among ED members which could be jeopardized if EU members must share all intelligence with each other. Yet these can be overcome. I will show that a common intelligence system is feasible and affordable if the ED takes advantage of its existing resources and those of its members.]

No description available.