The support and transfer of regionalist ideas is an important pillar of the European foreign relations. The EU has a natural interest in promoting the existence of regional peers, not least to receive confirmation and legitimisation in the global political arena. However, despite its predisposition to act as a counterpart towards other regional entities, it would be misleading to assume that the EU achieved a monopoly over its member states. Neither do overlapping initiatives necessarily result in complementary relationships.
Based on original fieldwork, the paper explores the contrasting nature of the EU and France vis-à-vis two Central African regional organisations, namely CEMAC (Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa) and ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States).
It argues that the two European actors follow two different and even independent logics that can be attributed to structural disparities related to the historic legacy, the means at their disposal, the self-perception, the role of the African Union and the actorness of the Central African institutions.
Consequently, the scope for trilateral cooperation is limited and convergence is unlikely, both on the African and on the European side. CEMAC and ECCAS mirror their respective main partners to a degree that effectively obstructs relations between them and contributes to the fragmentation of the region. Institutional sophistication comes at the expense of integration.
