From security to climate change by way of migration, political, economic and trade cooperation, digitisation and sustainable development, the wide range of areas of the renewed Africa-EU partnership was debated by EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday 15 May.
Ministers were able to reach consensus on the communication presented by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and International Cooperation and Development Commissioner Neven Mimica to breathe fresh life into the 2007 strategic partnership at the fifth bilateral summit, scheduled to take place in Abidjan at the end of November of this year (see EUROPE 11781).
This will be a summit for doing “better for our citizens”. It will be “centred on youth and how to offer opportunities to young people in Europe and in Africa in particular. This is the best way to manage migration. This is also the best way of preventing radicalisation”, Mogherini said. She told the press that, politically, the EU’s intention was to invest more in order to give fresh impetus to the strategic partnership.
“Managing migratory flows requires partnership and cooperation. Many African countries of origin, transit and also destination”, Mogherini added, stressing that there is a “common interest” in cooperating.
This Council meeting provided the opportunity for discussion with Moussa Faki Mahamat, the new president of the Commission of the African Union, whom Mogherini met in Addis Ababa shortly after he took office, in March. He will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday 16 May.
The two parties showed similarities in their approaches on preventing radicalisation in order to check threats to security, notably in Somalia, the Sahel and Libya – an approach based on ownership of the fight being taken by African societies, Mogherini said.
Mahamat said that the African Union mission to the Horn of Africa had been working for ten years to counter Al-Shebaab, “which has been greatly weakened, with the assistance of the EU”. Forces have also been engaged in the fight against Boko Haram and “the Sahel G5 has decided to set up a force. African states are ready to provide forces”, he stated.
When asked to comment on the migration partnership between the EU and African countries, Mahamat replied simply: “We can only deal with the consequences of migration by addressing the causes. Sending people back and building barriers will never resolve the problem. We want an effective holistic approach”.
In the view of Belgian minister Didier Reynders, “security is an important part of the (Africa-EU) strategy”. More exactly, “security, humanitarian aid and seeking a political solution – the best option for taking a country (such as Burundi or DRC) out of crisis or stabilising it” are important.
The EU’s relationship with Africa is “vitally important. Migration from Libya is increasing. Last week again, hundreds of people lost their lives. It is vital to work to resolve the migration crisis”, said UK minister Boris Johnson. He stated, too, that the United Kingdom had shown itself to be “very active” in holding the international conference on Somalia in London last week, in an effort to stabilise that country.
In response to press questions, Luxembourg minister Jean Asselborn said that he thought it was “untrue” that the EU was seeking first and foremost to combat migration. “We are not trying only to stem migration. When we talk about a country like Libya, many migrants come from Bangladesh, Guinea or Nigeria. Practically no Libyans come to Italy. Libya has to be helped to find solutions. We mustn’t selfishly restrict our relationship to migration. It’s the most serious problem but EU cooperation with Africa has to be commercial, political and cultural”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)