Brussels, 29/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - Acting together to strengthen investment, economic growth and job creation - with a global economic and financial crisis raging, the aims at the third EU-Africa summit are not insignificant. The summit opened on Monday in Tripoli and is being attended by 80 heads of state and government from the two continents linked by a strategic partnership since 2007 (EUROPE 10265 and 10264). The determination to change gear and consolidate this partnership, in an effort to make it more responsive to the challenges facing the EU and Africa, is expected to lead to the adoption on Tuesday of the Tripoli Declaration and the second 2011-2030 Action Plan.
The Tripoli Declaration will express the two parties' commitment to promoting the private sector and regional integration as drivers of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and job creation. European and African leaders will outline their determination to pool their efforts in an attempt to attain the Millennium Development Goals. During this African year of peace and security, they will also underline the crucial importance of conflict prevention, reconciliation and post-conflict reconstruction. They will make a joint commitment to tackle the different crises in Africa, particularly in the Sudan and Somalia, as well as continue with their cooperation based on common values and objectives, at the service of good governance, democracy and the rule of law. Both parties will also seek to fight together to protect human rights on both continents and put an end to impunity. Their determination to improve cooperation in international bodies, such as the UN, G8 and G20, as well as their will to strengthen political dialogue, will also be signed by the two parties.
Climate snag. If the two parties manage to agree on common objectives for the international climate conference opening on the same day in Cancun (COP16, 29 November-10 December), the third EU-Africa summit will also adopt a joint political declaration on climate change. Nevertheless, nothing is certain about this issue on the first day of the summit. The Africans have refused to agree on a draft to put on the table. The text underlines the importance of drawing on the results from Copenhagen, respecting funding commitments in support of developing countries and the will of the two parties to cooperate in an effort to establish an ambitious post-2012 regime. The Africans consider, however, that the text drafted by the Europeans, does not reflect their priorities.
A partnership of equals. At the opening of the summit, Herman van Rompuy, the permanent president of the European Council pointed out that “the objective is now a strong partnership between equals, which goes beyond established models and limited agendas. There is now a commitment to tackle global questions affecting us and involving parliaments and civil society”. In an effort to gauge the different stakes at play he added that “the European Union and Africa are now urged to work together and seize the opportunities provided by our enormous combined potential… but we have to tackle significant challenges. Armed conflicts continue to threaten and indeed destroy progress in several countries. Insecurity, terrorism and international threats are not restricted to a few specific regions but are nourished by networks that exist in Africa and Europe. Poverty deprives millions of men and women from a life of dignity, despite the progress achieved over recent years. The Cancun summit on climate change, which begins in a week, also reminds us of other global challenges”.
Gaddafi ruffles a few feathers: in response Mouammar Gaddafi, the president of the host country, quoted by AFP, created a certain controversy by expressing his idea of a “partnership of equals”… “based on mutual interest and not on exploitation”. He also launched an attack against the WTO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, describing these organisations as “terrorist” and having “destroyed Africa”. He called for the WTO to be abolished and said that the latter is only concerned with “opening up our borders to external merchandise in order to destroy our industries”. He called for the African Union to be given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, similarly to the European Union.
He also hauled the EU-Africa partnership over the coals. Colonel Gaddafi stated that “we have failed in our economic partnership. We have been preoccupied with politics and have ignored economics. Africa needs economics, not politics”. He brandished the threat of other alliances and added that “if Africa fails in its partnership with Europe, it does have other alternatives”, such as Latin America, China and India, “countries and regions, which respect our regimes and which do not intervene in our domestic affairs”.
Speaking as the voice-piece of mainland Africa, he urged the EU to stop fragmenting Africa and negotiating with regional groups, as it had done in the negotiations on the economic partnership agreements (EPAs). According to Gaddafi, the laborious negotiations on these agreements, which no African region has yet concluded, are far from being helpful in promoting Africa's economic and agricultural development. He said that, on the contrary, these agreements lead to a “fall in living conditions and exports from African countries to Europe”. (A.N./transl.fl)