The priorities set out by the EU in its Global Strategy for Africa in March 2020 and those set out by the European Parliament in March 2021 for a strengthened partnership between the two continents remain relevant, but the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on African countries must be given priority at the sixth AU/EU summit, scheduled for 17-18 February 2022 in Brussels, said MEPs on Tuesday 30 November.
A joint meeting of the European Parliament’s Committees on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and Development (DEVE) Committees was held on Tuesday to discuss preparations for the summit, which was due to take place in October 2020 but has been postponed several times (see EUROPE 12619/26).
All MEPs hope that this time the summit can be held in person, but there is no certainty at this stage.
“We need official confirmation from the African side”, said the Director General for Africa of the European External Action Service, Rita Laranjinha. The summit will be a milestone in EU-African Union relations and should lead to “tangible and measurable results to strengthen our common values”.
Taking her at her word, Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana (Greens/EFA, Germany) expressed concern about Europe’s attitude towards South Africa since the appearance of the ‘Omicron’ variant. “Europe has closed its borders and isolated southern Africa, leading the South African government to say that this is tantamount to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing”, she complained.
Beyond the overall strategy, the preparations will build on the joint AU/EU Kigali ministerial declaration, which, on 26 October, established as priorities: – Covid-19 pandemic response and post-pandemic recovery; – building resilience; – investment in digital and ecological transitions; – peace, security, and global governance; – migration and mobility; - education, science, technology and skills development (see EUROPE 12820/13). The conclusions of the Paris summit in May on the financing of African economies (see EUROPE 12721/2), the conclusions of the European Council of October 2020 (see EUROPE 12583/5) and the requests of the European Parliament will also be taken into account, said the EEAS representative.
On behalf of the AFET Committee, David McAllister (EPP, Germany) expressed his hope that the summit would result in “a win-win strategy that serves as a foundation for a partnership” aiming at “useful results” on both sides, which strengthens the links between the two continents and is based on flexible approaches to take account of the needs of each country and region. He stressed the importance of the Sahel and Horn of Africa regions “for strategic and security reasons for us in Europe”.
DEVE Committee Chair Tomas Tobé (EPP, Sweden) noted that Parliament had called in March 2021 for a partnership focusing on human development, in particular health and education (see EUROPE 12686/16).
A parliamentary summit bringing together MEPs, members of the Pan-African Parliament, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament delegation for relations with South Africa will take place just beforehand, possibly on 10-11 February, in Brussels.
“The request has been submitted to the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament and I am convinced that it will be approved”, said María Soraya Rodriguez Ramos (Renew Europe, Spain), head of the European Parliament delegation for relations with the Pan-African Parliament. This parliamentary summit will formulate a political declaration which will be delivered by European Parliament President David Sassoli to the Heads of State or Government at the start of the AU/EU Summit.
The Parliament is in political and technical contact with African partners to begin coordinating the work started last year on resilience, governance, education and the health situation caused by Covid-19 on the continent. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)