On Thursday 16 November, the European Parliament endorsed, without amendment, the draft report by Maurice Ponga (EPP, France) on a renewed partnership between the European Union and Africa, two weeks from the bilateral EU-AU summit in Abidjan (see EUROPE 11904).
"Strengthening the EU-Africa partnership would enable the continent's development to progress more quickly and would enable a response to the sustainable development goals", Ponga stated in a press release. In his view, the countries of Africa will have to address several challenges in the future such as "the fight against poverty, the issue of security, and that of governance". Another thorny issue is that of cooperation on migration.
Africans and Europeans should conduct a frank dialogue on the rule of law and the fight against corruption, and should work on an Africa-EU charter on the sustainable management of natural resources, the European Parliament states. MEPs also advocate strengthening the African states’ budget for education, and are of the opinion that development aid should be made conditional upon cooperation on migration. And the member states should increase their contributions to the emergency trust fund for Africa, which at the end of October only stood at €175 million, when the amount expected was nearer €1.8 billion (see EUROPE 11887).
The Parliament is organising a Euro-African conference in Brussels on 22 November (see EUROPE 11904). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)