Crisis and Regional Integration: Africa and the European Union

‘Crisis’ has been a word frequently heard of over the last couple of years, both in a global meaning (e.g. the environmental crisis, the financial crisis) and also in a more regional or national meaning, many times related to Africa (Horn of Africa, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Egypt …. ), where the crisis referred to could be humanitarian, environmental, economic, political … Europe, too, has also according to mass media, been a victim of a crisis, the financial one. Could ‘crisis’ be a beginning of enhanced regional integration? This paper will try to look at the processes of regional integration in relation to ‘crisis’ in Africa and Europe.
First, this paper will look at the concept of ‘crisis’, before it moves on to discuss ‘regional integration’ and the correlation between the two, emphasizing the approaches of neo-functionalism and federal theory. This is the basis for two short case studies of African and European regional integration. The paper tentative answers to the question: will the crisis in Africa and Europe respectively further or block regional integration? With a ‘that depends’. But the use of Federalism theory and neo-functionalism is seen as fruitful.