European foreign ministers all agreed, on Monday 9 December, in Brussels to engage in a review of the 2007 EU/Africa Strategy with African partners, with a view to further deepening the strategic partnership between the two continents.
The discussion remained very general. Its purpose was to prepare the European Council of 12 and 13 December, which will give the Commission and the European External Action Service a mandate to work on this future partnership (see EUROPE 12385/2).
Speaking to the press, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, described the relationship between the EU and Africa as an "urgent" EU priority.
"We have started the work on how to shape our relation to prepare the 2020 Summit. We need a comprehensive strategy that Europeans and Africans can take ownership of", he said. This strategy cannot be limited to the issue of migration alone, even if it is important, he said. He added: "I asked that we work on preparing this partnership.
Among the priorities mentioned are climate change and its consequences for Africa, but also for Europe in terms of migration, peace and security, food security, economic opportunities, the Sahel and concerns related to the instability of the region, addressing the root causes of migration and its positioning faced with China. The digitisation of the economy, on the other hand, was not little mentioned.
Strengthening the African Union/EU partnership is also a priority of the European Commission, as Ursula von der Leyen pointed out during her first visit last weekend to Addis Ababa, the AU's headquarters. A meeting of the European Commission and the AU Commission will probably take place in Africa at the end of February (see other news), before the EU/AU ministerial meeting in preparation for the AU/EU summit at the end of 2020. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)