The Creation and Transformation of Regional Parliamentary Assemblies: Lessons from the Pan-African Parliament

Abstract

International audienceThis article analyses the genesis and recent evolution of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), one of the key institutions of African integration. Based on theories relating to the European Parliament, it argues that the dynamics surrounding the establishment of the PAP result from a blend of internal and external factors. On the one hand, the decision to create a PAP can be traced back to the problems of the Organisation of African Unity and to the will of African leaders to revive Pan-Africanism. On the other hand, the establishment and design of the PAP are partially inspired by international precedents such as the European Parliament. Over and above this observation, which is informed by the theory of mimetic institutionalism, the existence of regular interactions between Europe and Africa and, more generally, the outward activities of the PAP, would seem propitious to the self-assertion of this institution. Ultimately, the objective of the article is to lay the ground for a more ambitious theory of regional parliamentary assemblies

Citizen-centred or state-centred? The representational design of International Parliamentary Institutions

“…When a research agenda on IPIs began to emerge, authors explored new questions such as the role of IPIs in regional politics (Sabic 2008;Stravidis and Pace 2011) or the relationships between the EP and other IPIs (Grabendorff 1992;Cofelice and Kingah 2012). However, most contributions still focused on the emergence of IPIs, from a comparative perspective (Kebles 1990;Cutler 2013;Lenz 2013;Cofelice 2018;Rocabert et al 2019), or within a specific case or region (Rittberger 2005;Dri 2010;Navarro 2010;Mumford 2018;Jancic 2019;Verdoes 2020).…”

A Clash between Creature and Creator? Contemporary Relations between the Pan‐African Parliament and the European Parliament

“…In this sense, mirroring the institutional path of the EP in the EU always seemed to be an important strategy for members and officials of the PAP. Furthermore, for an infant institution such as the PAP, having deeper relations with the EP is a valuable instrument for increasing its reputation and external visibility as an international institution (Navarro, 2010).…”

“…In this way, institutional isomorphism has been a key component of EU-AU inter-regionalism (Rutazibwa, 2010) as well as of EP-PAP relations (Navarro, 2010). The EP's support (especially by its Office for Promotion of Parliamentary Democracy) for the capacity-building of PAP's bureaucracy has been one of the most intensive dynamics of the relationship between the two continental parliaments.…”

“…Although some scholars have assessed the intergovernmental and interparliamentary relations between the EU and the Africa, Pacific and Caribbean states (Brown, 2000;Delputte and Williams, 2016;Delputte et al, 2017;Farrell, 2005), few studies have addressed the more recent EU's relations with the African Union (AU) and the EP's dialogue with the PAP (Kingah and Cofelice, 2012;Navarro, 2010). In addition, previous studies on the subject have mostly focused on the overall EU-AU relations (Emmanuel, 2010;Kotsopoulos and Sidiropoulos, 2007;Mangala, 2013), and have not investigated how the perceptions of African political actors of their European counterparts may impact on EU-AU inter-regionalism.…”

“…Throughout PAP's institutional development, not only was the EP considered a parliamentary role model for this proposal, but it was also one of PAP's main supporters (Emmanuel, 2010;Kingah and Cofelice, 2012;Navarro, 2010). Successive interparliamentary meetings have been held and PAP officials have frequently visited Brussels to learn from EU institutions, in particular from the EP.…”