EUFCFE/N UNlCN lN

GLC8/L ECCNCMlC
FEL/IlCNS /ND IHE /U
S?nulCA1L MLM8L8S
1 A8IMAIL LDIA LAkA8A
2 A8DULLAnI LIMAN USMAN
3 2AINA8 2AILANI
4 G8LNGA S ALIU
S AISnA8AIA'U 8LLLC LIMAN
6 AnAA GC8Ik
7 SULILMAN MCn'D IAMIU
8 ISAn kIASU
9 CNINL CnIML
10 8AkC UNUSA A8U8AkAk
11 ADLNLL AWAIL
12 NANA AISnA SANI
13 MCnAMMLD M SCkAkA
98LSLn1A1lCn Cu1LlnL
W IN1kCDUC1ICN
W SCCL
W 1nLCkL1ICAL IkAMLWCkk
W LUkCLAN UNICN
W AIkICAN UNICN
W GLC8AL LCCNCM
W CCNCLUSICN
ln18CuuC1lCn
Many aspecLs of globallsaLlon lncludlng exLenslve economlc lnLeracLlons
expandlng communlcaLlons llnks ma[or envlronmenLal lnLeracLlons and
overlaps collecLlvely encourage lndlvldual governmenLs Lo cooperaLe ln
order Lo Lry Lo achleve goals LhaL acLlng on Lhelr own Lhey may noL belleve
Lhey can achleve 1he lmpllcaLlon ls LhaL Loday no counLry ls fully self
sufflclenL or capable of llvlng ln compleLe lsolaLlon from Lhe resL of
humanlLy 1hls sLaLe of affalrs suggesLs LhaL Lhe very concepL of naLlonal
soverelgnLy (someLlmes called 'lndependence' or 'auLonomy') ls now much
less cerLaln Lhan lL once was ln some reglons of Lhe world especlally
Lurope Lhls reallsaLlon has led Lo hlghly sLrucLured aLLempLs Lo promoLe
cooperaLlon across sLaLe boundarles ln Lhe form of reglonal organlsaLlons
1he mosL farreachlng of Lhese efforLs Lhus far has been Lhe Lu ln some
reglons such as SubSaharan Afrlca Lhe successes of Luropean lnLegraLlon
efforLs over Lhe lasL slx decades have led Lo copycaL aLLempLs aL teqloool
loteqtotloo Lxamples lnclude Afrlca Asla LaLln Amerlca and elsewhere
ln18CuuC1lCn conL
1he Lu ls someLlmes descrlbed as a 'posLsoverelgn' enLlLy 1hls means
LhaL over Llme power has sLeadlly moved away from lndlvldual member
sLaLes Lo supranaLlonal Lu lnsLlLuLlons As a resulL Lhe Lu has esLabllshed
a new form of governance aL an lnLermedlaLe level Lhe reglonal whlch
ls beLween Lhe global and Lhe sLaLe
WhaL makes Lhe Lu unlque among exlsLlng reglonal organlsaLlons ls LhaL lL
has a maLure seL of lnsLlLuLlons whlch make lL Lhe mosL developed pro[ecL
of reglonal lnLegraLlon ln Lhe world 1he currenL advanced sLage of Lu
developmenL represenLs a complex process over flve decades slnce Lhe
early 1930s 1hls half cenLury was a Llme when Lhe unlon developed a
mulLlfaceLed agenda wlLh economlc culLural securlLy and pollLlcal goals
arrlved aL vla a serles of lmporLanL LreaLles ln order for Lhe Lu Lo become
a key player ln Loday's lnLernaLlonal relaLlons
SCC9L
1hls SyndlcaLe paper looks aL Lhe acLlvlLles of Lhe Luropean
unlon (Lu) ln collaboraLlon wlLh Lhe Afrlcan unlon (Au)
whlch has Lhe poLenLlals Lo be a global force for change lL
equally ldenLlfles Lhe conslderable sLrengLh and
weaknesses of boLh organlsaLlons/unlons LhaL could be
used ln lnfluenclng Lhose challenges and examlnes recenL
changes ln Lhe lnLernaLlonal performance of Lhe Lu ln Lhe
conLexL of Lhe rlse of Chlna lndla and oLher ma[or
economles 1hls creaLes boLh more compeLlLlve pressures
and new opporLunlLles More speclflcally Lhe reporL looks
aL Lhe changes ln speclallsaLlon and markeL shares of Lhe
Lu on exLernal markeLs
1PLC8L1lCAL l8AMLWC8k
neofuncLlonallsm ls golng Lo be Lhe LheoreLlcal mlrror
Lhrough whlch Lhls research wlll be vlewed lL ls
slmulLaneously a Lheory and a sLraLegy of reglonal
lnLegraLlon bulldlng on Lhe work of uavld MlLrany
neofuncLlonallsLs focused Lhelr aLLenLlon ln Lhe process of
lnLegraLlon among sLaLes le reglonal lnLegraLlon lnlLlally
sLaLes lnLegraLe ln llmlLed funcLlonal or economlc areas
1hereafLer parLlally lnLegraLed sLaLes experlence lncreaslng
momenLum for furLher rounds of lnLegraLlon ln relaLed areas
1hls lnvlslble hand of lnLegraLlon phenomenon was Lermed
splllover by Lhe neofuncLlonallsL School AlLhough
lnLegraLlon can be reslsLed lL becomes harder Lo sLop
lnLegraLlons reach as lL progresses
Lu8C9LAn unlCn
MA9 Cl 1PL Lu
Lu8C9LAn unlCn conL
W nIS1CkICAL 8ACkGkCUND
W S1kUC1UkAL IkAMLWCkk
W ICkLIGN kLLA1ICNS
W MILI1Ak
W nUMANI1AkIAN AID
W LCCNCM
Al8lCAn unlCn
LC8AL LCCnCM?
1he maln feaLures of Lhe global economy orlglnaLed durlng Lhe
lndusLrlal 8evoluLlon A sharp lncrease ln Lhe prlce of Llmber aL Lhe end of
Lhe elghLeenLh cenLury lnduced a search for alLernaLlve energy sources 1he
search led Lo a clusLer of lnvenLlons lmplemenLed over a forLyyear perlod
durlng whlch growLh suffered LhaL enabled a shlfL Lo sLeampower Lo Lake
place 1he shlfL Lo sLeampower ln Lurn permlLLed susLalned long Lerm
economlc growLh for Lhe flrsL Llme ln hlsLory revoluLlonlzed Lhe
Lechnology of long dlsLance LransporL changed Lhe economlc and soclal
sLrucLure and led Lo Lhe evenLual LransformaLlon of Lhe domesLlc and global
economy socleLy and lnsLlLuLlons
reaL 8rlLaln became Lhe englne of world economlc growLh durlng Lhe
lndusLrlal 8evoluLlon era beLween 1820 and 1890 lL lnlLlaLed Lhe lndusLrlal
8evoluLlon and compeLlLlon wlLh reaL 8rlLaln and Lhe dlffuslon of 8rlLlsh
Lechnology gave Lhe ma[or lmpeLus Lo Lhe lndusLrlallzaLlon efforLs of Lhe
follower counLrles ln boLh Lurope and Lhe overseas LerrlLorles
Lu8C9LAn unlCn ln WC8Lu
LCCnCMlLS
Lver slnce lLs creaLlon Lhe Lu's economlc welghL has made lL an lnfluenLlal
player ln Lhe global economy 1he Lu27 accounL for 19 per cenL of global
Lrade and ls one of Lhe largesL hosLs and sources of forelgn dlrecL
lnvesLmenLs lnLernal coordlnaLlon of forelgn economlc pollcles has meanL
LhaL lL could aL leasL parLlally LranslaLe lLs economlc welghL lnLo lnfluence
ln global economlc relaLlons ln boLh Lrade and compeLlLlon pollcy Lhe Lu
has been able Lo speak wlLh one volce" ln deallng wlLh Lhlrd counLrles
slnce Lhe 1960s lor Lhe lasL decade moreover lncreased lnLernal
coordlnaLlon ln Lhe fleld of moneLary pollcy (ln parLlcular due Lo Lhe
launch of a common currency and Lhe creaLlon of Lhe Luropean CenLral
8ank) has lncreased Lhe leverage of Lhe Lu ln Lhe lnLernaLlonal moneLary
sysLem MosL recenLly flnanclal regulaLors' reacLlons Lo flnanclal crlses
have sparked a debaLe on Lhe need for addlLlonal lnLernal coordlnaLlon
wlLhln Lhe Lu as Lo Lackllng markeL lmbalances
ln addlLlon Lo bllaLeral relaLlons wlLh counLrles and reglons ln all
conLlnenLs Lhe Lu also operaLes delegaLlons ln all corners of Lhe world A
neLwork of over 130 Lu delegaLlons and offlces are Lhe eyes ears and
mouLhplece of Lhe Luropean unlon vlsvls Lhe auLhorlLles and Lhe
populaLlon ln Lhelr hosL counLrles
Lu 8LLA1lCnS Wl1P 1PL uS
Lu 8LLA1lCnS Wl1P CPlnA
Lu Anu Au 8LLA1lCnS
CCM9A8A1lvL AnAL?SlS Cl 1PL Lu
Au
1here are boLh slmllarlLles and dlfferences beLween Lhe Lwo organlsaLlons
1he Au whlch succeeded Lhe CrganlsaLlon for Afrlcan unlLy (CAu) ln
2002 can ln many ways be porLrayed as a copy of Lhe Lu lndeed Lhe
archlLecLs of Lhe Au have noL hldden Lhe facL LhaL Lhe Au was modeled on
Lhe Lu 9resldenL addafl admlLLed as much ln an lnLervlew LhaL he drew
hls lnsplraLlon from Lhe Lu experlence Llkewlse aL Lhe !uly 2001 CAu
summlL ln Zambla LhaL dealL wlLh Lhe LranslLlon from Lhe CAu Lo Lhe Au
several references were made Lo Lhe Afrlcan unlon belng loosely based
on Lhe Luropean unlon model llrsL Lhere ls Lhe obvlous slmllarlLy ln Lhe
name wlLh Lhe use of unlon" Secondly Lhe lnsLlLuLlonal seLup remlnds aL
leasL on Lhe surface of LhaL of Lhe Lu lor example Lhe Au has a 9an
Afrlcan 9arllamenL an LxecuLlve Afrlcan Commlsslon an Afrlcan CourL of
!usLlce an LxecuLlve Councll (mlrrorlng Lhe Lu's Councll of MlnlsLers) and
flnally Lhe Assembly of Lhe Afrlcan unlon grouplng lLs leaders aL summlLs
(Lo maLch Lhe Luropean Councll) 1o underscore Lhe polnL Lhe below Lable
ls a qulck snapshoL comparlson of Lhe lnsLlLuLlonal sLrucLures of Lhe Au
and Lhe Lu
CCnCLuSlCn
W 1he key alm of vlrLually all exlsLlng reglonal organlsaLlons ls Lo expand
Lrade among member counLrles ln Lhe conLexL of globallsaLlon We have
seen LhaL when Lhere are approprlaLe formal lnsLlLuLlons as ln Lhe Lu
and buL noL Lo Lhe same exLenL ln Lhe Au Lhen pollLlcal soclal and/or
developmenLal ob[ecLlves even when offlclally of no or mlnlmal
lmporLance can grow ln slgnlflcance ln Lhe conLexL of Lrade Lalks lor
example Lhe lssue of Lu enlargemenL was noL only abouL Lhe economlc
ramlflcaLlons of reglonal augmenLaLlon buL also lmporLanLly concerned
wlder pollLlcal culLural and soclal lssues subsumed under Lhe headlng of
whaL consLlLuLes 'Luropeanness'
W A furLher polnL ls LhaL sLaLes engaged ln reglonal cooperaLlon aLLempLs ln
effecL wanL boLh Lo have Lhelr cake and Lo eaL lL LhaL ls Lhey 'aLLempL Lo
galn Lhe economlc advanLages of larger and more open markeLs wlLhouL
sacrlflclng Lhelr pollLlcal soverelgnLy' (Pague and Parrop 2001 32)
Powever we have seen LhaL Lhe hlsLory of Lhe Lu Lhe mosL developed
reglonal organlsaLlon lndlcaLes LhaL advanced reglonal cooperaLlon can
have mulLlple economlc pollLlcal securlLy and culLural ouLcomes
CCnCLuSlCn conL
1he Au shares Lurope's asplraLlons buL has so far falled Lo en[oy Lhe klnd
of success LhaL Lurope has ln relaLlon Lo reglonal lnLegraLlon uesplLe long
Lerm calls for
Afrlcan unlLy Lhere has been ln reallLy much less commlLmenL Lo Lhe
ldeals of reglonal lnLegraLlon on Lhe parL of Afrlcan governmenLs unLll Lhls
slLuaLlon changes we should expecL Lo see a fallure of Afrlca's reglonal
efforLs desplLe conLlnulng rheLorlcal commlLmenL Lo Lhem on Lhe parL of
Lhe reglon's governmenLs
noneLheless Lhere are gllmmers of hope lor example one of Lhe ma[or
achlevemenLs of Lhe Au Lhus far ls how qulckly lLs member sLaLes raLlfled
Lhe ConsulLaLlve AcL almosL one year ahead of schedule lven Lhe
conLlnenL's unenvlable hlsLory of dragglng lLs feeL on lmporLanL lssues Lhe
AcL was raLlfled by Lhe requlred LwoLhlrds of Lhe CAu members wlLhln a
year lL mlghL be a slgn of poslLlve/greaL developmenLs ln Lhe fuLure of Lhe
conLlnenL lL mlghL also be a LesLlmony Lo an appreclaLlon of Lhe sense of
urgency by Afrlca's new leaders