The long-awaited Lisbon Treaty, under which the European Union (EU) will be able to re-assert a dominant position internationally, streamline its internal bureaucratic processes to improve their efficiency, and speak with one voice on foreign policy matters, came into force on 1 December 2009. However, for African analysts the Treaty raises two questions. What will Africa’s place be in the EU’s new foreign policy? How will the EU’s new arrangements under the Treaty cohere with the vision set out in the partnership of the Joint Africa–EU Strategy?
