“…Indeed, the EU has been accused of using democracy promotion as a smokescreen to promote its vital economic and political interests in Africa (Crawford, ) in a neo‐realist fashion. NPE has variously been described as: a force for good providing necessary guidance to developing countries (Sjursen, ); a force for the empowerment of African states through their inclusion into negotiations concerning, for example, the Kyoto protocol on climate change and the International Criminal Court (ICC) (Scheipers and Sicurelli, ), otherwise known as ‘partnership in ownership’ designed to empower states to take control of development (Pirozzi, , p. 41); or a suitable mentor to the African Union, implying that the EU has a broader norms and rules‐based educative role (Haastrup, ). Here, the EU is at least trying to instil transformative change in EU‐Africa relations through active partnership, equality and local ownership of policies, even though there is clearly a long way to go in achieving any such objectives (Haastrup, , 64).…”