Implications of the European Peace Facility (EPF) to the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA)

Multilateralism is a foundational principle of the European Union's (EU) foreign policy. However, the approval of the European Peace Facility (EPF) in 2021 changed EU’s approach to support the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA). The EPF allows the EU to intervene in Africa bypassing APSA’s the African Union (AU) and the African Standby Forces (ASF). The EU can now pursue partnerships in ad-hoc arrangements, provide bilateral support to states, and collaborate directly with other multilateral organizations. Together with the EU's 2022 security strategy, this change aims to prioritize the EU as a global actor, moving away from its previous emphasis on multilateralism. This paper examines the impact of these changes on the centrality of the APSA and the security regime in Africa. By employing process tracing and drawing insights from grey literature, we highlight how these changes can promote alternative sites of agency. We argue that, as the EU deprioritizes APSA, it becomes imperative for APSA to assert itself as a viable option for future partnerships within the African regional security complex.