Brussels, 19/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Ten days before the EU-Africa summit - Investing in people, prosperity and peace - which will take place in Brussels on 2-3 April, the European Council on Friday 21 March will attend to the preparations for this summit - the fourth of its kind, following Cairo (in 2000), Lisbon (in 2007) and Tripoli (in 2010).
The European Council is due to reaffirm its intention to strengthen the equal footing partnership established by the common EU-Africa strategy adopted in Lisbon in 2007, and to call for more substantial EU support for the African initiatives at strengthening capabilities in order to consolidate the African peace and security architecture. Peace and security will indeed be highlighted in the Council's conclusions - “a dimension of EU-Africa relations which requires a high-level political engagement from leaders”, said European Council President Herman Van Rompuy in his letter of invitation to the EU heads of state and government. However, the ambition for deepening the Euro-African cooperation covers “the whole arsenal of our relations with Africa”, a diplomatic source pointed out on Wednesday.
“We will have to take decisions on key initiatives, concerning in particular the support to the African peace and security architecture, including reserve forces and the rallying of the international community around sustainable development objectives post-2015. It is through concrete projects and joint projects that we will show the effectiveness of the EU-Africa partnership”, said Van Rompuy on 20 February during his African tour (our translation). The EU-Africa summit is expected to lead to a political statement embracing all areas of cooperation (political, economic, investments, trade, development, migration, peace and security) and will give details of the cooperation modalities for the next three years. (AN)