ABSTRACT
This chapter explores whether the EU has proved capable in their implementation, both in terms of policy formulation and execution. In the European Union's (EU) strategic thinking about external action, regional strategies are the new kid on the block. The relationship between the regional approaches and encompassing Meta strategies is therefore an important area to scrutinise. The Sahel and the Horn of Africa (HoA) are two problem children' of sub-Saharan Africa. Contrarily, the Strategic Framework for the Horn of Africa resulted from CSDP and other activities, designed first and foremost to help Somalia recover from state failure and only later transformed into a regional approach. A look at the instruments that the EU has applied since the formulation of the Sahel Strategy reveals an impressive number of activities. With the review of the European Security Strategy (ESS) pending, EU policy-makers have driven forward the concept of regional strategies considerably over the past years.
