Brussels, 28/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - 65 heads of state and government of African countries and of countries of the European Union will take part in the fourth EU-Africa Summit, to be held in Brussels on 2 and 3 April on the theme “Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace” (see EUROPE 11042). With Africa currently experiencing growth rates of 5.2% on average and with the EU coming out of crisis, Europe and Africa - whose largest trade partner and largest investor is the EU - will discuss ways of building upon their cooperation in these three areas. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, will represent the EU. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, President of the African Union Commission, and Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, will be among those attending. At this point, only the United Kingdom, Sweden, Luxembourg and Hungary will not be represented by their heads of state. The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, was invited by derogation to the visa ban to which he is subject, but it is not yet known whether he will attend. Omar Al Bashir, the president of Sudan, was not invited. “The invitation was sent to the government”, diplomatic sources stated on Friday.
“Both Africa and the European Union will come together to address the challenges that face each of our continents and the ones that face the world as a whole. The theme we have chosen addresses the everyday concerns of our citizens - their safety and security, their job prospects and their future as families and individuals”, said Van Rompuy. Barroso stressed the opportunity to “deepen our partnership of equals and seize further cooperation opportunities by expanding political, economic and people to people contacts”.
The achievement of peace and security by strengthening the African architecture is the priority of the heads of state and government of the EU, as they stressed at their spring summit (see EUROPE 11042).
Determined to reinforce their strategic partnership laid down by the common EU-Africa strategy adopted in Lisbon in 2007, both sides will undertake to promote human capital by means of education and training, to set in place new incentives to investment and to find ways of boosting growth, which will help to create jobs, particularly for young people. They also aim to make progress on the priorities which constitute the fight against terrorism, the fight against climate change, the fight against global poverty and the development goals beyond 2015.
The summit aims to lead to measures to improve the business and investment climate, support agriculture and lay down a road map establishing guidelines and the future cooperation framework, based around broad outlines: peace and security, governance and human rights, human development (higher education, migration, mobility, with particular emphasis on the positive dimension of migration, the economic dimension of cooperation for inclusive and sustainable growth). It also aims to adopt three separate declarations on agriculture, migration and climate change.
A mini-summit on the Central African Republic will take place in the morning of Wednesday 2 April and will be attended by representatives of some 15 African countries from the region and a similar number of EU countries, under the chairmanship of François Hollande and Herman Van Rompuy. Those attending the session will focus on the disastrous situation of the country, where the killing continues. The EU may announce the deployment of an initial EUFOR CAR contingent for next month. A force-generation meeting was under way on Friday 28 March.
The summit will be preceded by an EU-Africa Business Forum, the fifth of its kind (31 March and 1 April in the Palais d'Egmont). 800 people are expected to attend. There will be 12 round tables. The forum's recommendations will feed into the summit's conclusions. Moving trade forward, improving the business climate, providing the skills and funding needed for developing entrepreneurship among women and young people. A joint summit of the European Parliament and the pan-African Parliament (Monday 31 March and Tuesday 1 April) will prepare a declaration for the heads of state.
Climate: the EU and Africa - one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change - wish to work together for an ambitious and legally binding global agreement in Paris in 2015.
Migration: on this theme, which is close to the heart of Spain and the Greek Presidency of the Council, as it is to the African Union in avoiding the tragedies of Lampedusa and Northern Niger, the two sides are expected to adopt a five-point action plan: migration and development, trafficking in persons, illegal migration, migration for work, international protection for refugees and asylum seekers.
EPA: following close on the heels of the ECOWAS summit, to be held in Yamoussoukro (Côte d'Ivoire) on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 March, the countries of western African may recommend the signature of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and ECOWAS.
The EU's aid to Africa is €20 billion a year (€4 billion of which is managed by the Commission), or 45% of all development aid flows to Africa (which are becoming diversified with Asia and Latin America). In 2013, the trade balance of the EU with Africa registered a deficit of €15 billion. (AN)