With the signature of the joint EU-Africa strategy in Lisbon in December 2007 the partnership between Africa and the EU has reached a new political momentum. For the first time the EU and Africa jointly agreed to a broad cooperation framework on the basis of partnership and mutual accountability. Three out of the eight priorities of the partnership have been selected and discussed with representatives from African and European Civil society and political decision makers from the European Union and the African Union:

1) Democratic Governance and Human Rights

2) EU-Africa Cooperation in Post-Conflict Reconstruction and the development of the private sector

3)The energy security-climate change interface