EU Powers in Africa - French, German, Spanish and Italian Africa Policy in Transistion

The aim of the study is to provide an overview of the Africa policy of France, Germany, Spain and Italy and the countries' political, economic, security and cultural relations with Africa. The analysis builds on national policy documents, speeches, interviews, documents and statistics from international organisations combined with an analysis of the countries' activities in Africa. The study finds both similarities and differences between the four countries. All states give more priority to Africa and they have increased their military engagement in the Sahel during the 2010s. All states prioritise North Africa, West Africa and the Horn of Africa. France has the most extensive military presence, while Germany focuses on crisis prevention and multinational peacekeeping operations. The studied countries express ambitions to increase trade with Africa. The use of 'soft power' has increased in importance and all countries express an ambition to integrate different policy instruments and policy areas, primarily security, development cooperation and economic development. This development will likely increase at the EU level as well, which means that Sweden will have to decide on the balance between different policy areas.