Ahead of the AU-EU Summit, members of the European Parliament (EP) and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) hold a parliamentary summit to prepare for the discussions. The event allows them to discuss the most pressing topics facing the relationship between the EU and Africa, as well as how to improve the future implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. The presidents of both institutions usually take part in the discussions, and conclusions of the meeting are summarised in a declaration addressing the key issues.
The last EP-PAP summit was held in Côte d'Ivoire from 27 to 28 November 2017, in the run up of the 5th AU-EU Summit. This meeting resulted in the adoption of the Abidjan Appeal, and covered eleven priority topics for Africa-EU relations.