After many public discussions about European policy towards Africa in 2005, on the agenda in 2006 was the defining of activities and implementing promises, for instance at the meeting of European NGOs towards the end of the Austrian presidency of the EU in the first half of the year (22–23 June). It remained unclear, however, what impact the EU strategy – intended alike for the common programmes of the Commission towards Africa and for bilateral relations between EU member states and that continent – will have at the national level within Europe.
Due to Africa's high profile on the international agenda, the continent featured prominently in European politics. The UN stocktaking conference for MDGs served as an international rallying point for discussions, which focused largely on financing for development and Africa's share of global development assistance. For Europe, crisis and reform lay close together.
The first half of the year was marked by a focus on translating the previous year's high-level commitments into practice, making for a feeling of ‘business as usual,’ and planning for stock-taking events on international commitments such as the conference on financing for development in Doha in November. International attention, however, shifted substantially in the second half of the year, with the focus on the US presidential elections and the rapid unfolding of and early attempts to contain the financial and economic crisis in autumn, all of which have potential implications for African-European relations. During the G8 summit in the Japanese town of Toyako, Hokkaido (7–9 July), the financial crisis was already looming, but heads of state still expressed optimism about addressing the global rise in food and oil prices. Africa featured fairly prominently on the agenda, yet few tangible results could be reported other than increased activity by donors in programmes for rural development, a sector ‘rediscovered’ after years of declining donor funding to it. The use of genetically manipulated crops as a possible answer to the global food crisis remained controversial.
The record of African-European relations in 2007 was mixed. On the one hand, the first Africa-EU summit in seven years took place, but on the other there was mounting dissatisfaction among African leaders with EU policy – not least on trade – and with what was denounced as the EU's “patronising attitude”. There was a renewed geostrategic interest in Africa on the part not least of China and the US – but also increasingly by India and others. These changes in Africa's global importance had an impact on European-African relations by increasing the policy space available to African leaders. Pressure was mounting on Europe to (re)direct its policies.
The year 2004 saw several changes within Europe and Africa with the potential to impact the relationship between the two continents. Africa was not at the core of EU external relations, but achieved growing prominence on the EU's agenda. For years, the neighbouring continent to the south has been losing importance and the Cotonou Agreement was not the showcase its predecessor Lomé had been. This was less because of the reduced engagement of the EU in Africa, but rather because of the increasing European profile in other parts of the world, e.g., the Balkans and Eastern Europe. However, new developments in Africa, not least the formation of AU and NEPAD, posed new challenges to African-European relations and to Europe's reactions to change in Africa.