Legal analysis on the relationship between the AU/AEC and RECs : Africa lost in a "spaghetti bowl" of legal relations?
Master Thesis
2014
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University of Cape Town
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In Africa, the regional trade agreements (RTAs) are commonly known as regional economic communities (RECs). Currently, fourteen regional economic communities operate on the African continent. However, in the quest for a more systematic approach to promoting "a strong and united Africa", only eight RECs were officially recognised and designated to serve as the essential building blocks towards the formation of the African Economic Community (AEC). Africa's continental community AEC is envisioned as the overall objective of the African regional integration process in the Abuja Treaty. The concept of the pursuit of sustainable development through RECs is not doubted in Africa. The Abuja Treaty proposed a gradual step-by-step approach where RECs play an important role during the first stages, but then have to lead "somehow" to one big coherent continental regional economic organisation – the overall goal of the African Economic Community. Neither the Abuja Treaty nor the Constitutive Act of the African Union (CAAU) includes concise provisions on how to establish the continental AEC. The relations between the different integration players, such as the AU, AEC and RECs, that exist now or should exist in the near future, are not defined legally. Until these "relational issues" are resolved, it seems difficult and even impossible to accelerate Africa's economic integration on the way towards the AEC. Thus, it is crucial for an accelerated integration process to discuss the scarce existing legal framework with its significant lacunas and develop solutions that allow filling in the legal blanks through the adoption of new treaties and amendments as well as protocols. The African continent with its multiple and overlapping RECs still looks like a "spaghetti bowl" instead of a "cannelloni". Thus, the question of rationalisation is still without definite answer.
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Reference:
Kolbeck, B. 2014. Legal analysis on the relationship between the AU/AEC and RECs : Africa lost in a "spaghetti bowl" of legal relations?. University of Cape Town.