On Monday 13 December, Foreign Ministers had an in-depth discussion on EU-Africa relations ahead of the European Council on 16 December, which will prepare the EU-African Union (EU-AU) summit scheduled for February.
At the end of the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council meeting, EU High Representative Josep Borrell stated the ministers’ desire to make “Europe more concrete, more visible, more operational” in its partnership with Africa.
Among the priorities he highlighted were the fight against the coronavirus through the provision of vaccines, but also through vaccination, peace and security, good governance, the green and digital transition, and cooperation in international fora.
“We can do more with our partners in areas from security and migration to investments”, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić-Radman said before the session. Just back from Algeria, he had indicated that he had “discussed these very important topics with [his] Algerian counterpart, Ramtane Lamamra”.
In the opinion of the Spanish minister, José Manuel Albares Bueno, “this partnership is fundamental, for demographic reasons, for reasons of mobility, security and development. The EU and the AU must have a real partnership, a real association”. He also expressed great concern about the situation in Ethiopia, especially as the AU has its headquarters in Addis Ababa.
“EU-Africa relations are a very important issue. We need a new comprehensive EU strategy for the African Union”, said Bogdan Aurescu.
Finnish State Secretary Johanna Sumuvuori stressed the importance of deepening political and economic relations with African countries and organisations. “We want to work together on equal basis to tackle certain current challenges with societies, especially the climate change”, she said. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)