Brussels, 26/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Support for African priorities and a call for a stronger partnership between the EU and Africa were the key themes of an address by the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, to the joint meeting of the European Commission and the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 26 April.
Pointing out that the EU is the second largest donor to Africa and its biggest trading partner, Barroso said there was huge potential on the African continent, which is experiencing average growth levels of 5% a year, and double that in some countries.
Barroso said that the social and economic development of Africa is beneficial above all for the peoples of Africa, but he believed it was also in the interests of the EU because in an ever more inter-dependent world, the future of Europe is closely connected with the future of Africa. What affects one, affects the other. He said he was talking about the threats to peace and stability, the risks of climate change, fundamentalism, organised crime and the impact of the economic and financial crisis. The fourth EU-Africa Summit will take place in Brussels on 3 and 4 April 2013. (AN/transl.fl)