EU-AU at Sea: Towards a Euro-African Maritime Security Organisation?

Carola Gritella
October 2021

Maritime security is usually a neglected topic in the continental public debate. However, facts and figures suggest that the sea is central to the current establishment of a secure multipolar world. The European Union shares with Africa a maritime security challenge that can be tackled only through close cooperation between the European and the African regional orders. The European Union and the African Union are already converging through the EUMSS and the AIMS 2050, which is a signal that could mean that the two continents are ready to engage more to secure their seas. These actors need to take responsibility over the sea domain to ensure freedom of the seas, an equal share of maritime resources, and positive and negative security for their citizens. The Research Paper argues that the creation of a multilateral platform, the Euro-African Maritime Security Organization, could be the answer to the need to integrate and coordinate the Euro-African maritime security initiatives in the MED and the enlarged Mediterranean.

Keywords: Maritime security, AU, EU, integrated regional orders, multilateralism

Carola Gritella is a Graduate in Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies at the University of Torino

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