The response to the coronavirus pandemic, the post-Covid-19 economic recovery and its financial support are on the menu of the summit of the leaders of the European Union and the African Union, organised on Wednesday 9 December by videoconference in anticipation of the sixth EU/AU summit, which has been postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic (see EUROPE 12595/18, 12564/4).
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, will hold talks with African Union partners.
The aim is to maintain the political impetus with a view to a strengthened and renewed strategic partnership to be defined next year in all areas of cooperation (see EUROPE 12583/5).
Late Tuesday afternoon, the African Union had yet to confirm who would participate in this virtual exchange that Charles Michel wanted to follow the European summit on 10 and 11 December.
According to the EU, EU and AU leaders are expected to discuss cooperation on the immediate response to Covid-19, including access to medicines, testing equipment and vaccines under the global ACT-A (ACT Accelerator) initiative, as well as measures to strengthen health systems.
They should also discuss longer-term issues related to economic recovery with a view to “building back better”, as the World Economic Forum and the United Nations call it.
Both sides should also stress the importance of co-ordinated international efforts on debt relief and improved access to international financing for African countries.
The outcome of the last G20 Summit, which in November endorsed a common multilateral framework for the coordinated treatment of debt beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), is an important step in this respect (see EUROPE 12612/3, 12607/10).
No joint statement will be adopted at the end of the videoconference, a senior official told EUROPE. The possibility of a press conference remains to be confirmed. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)