The foreign affairs ministers of the countries of the European Union and the African Union (AU) will meet for the third time on Wednesday 21 May in Brussels to take stock of the progress made since the sixth EU-AU summit in February 2022 (see EUROPE 12894/1). The meeting will be co-chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and Angola’s Minister for External Relations, Tete António.
The major issues relating to peace, security, governance, multilateralism, prosperity, populations, migration and mobility will be addressed during the discussions.
In mid-April, Ms Kallas expressed the desire of EU countries for greater European involvement in Africa, fearing the influence of foreign powers, but also in the face of major crises and the drying up of US humanitarian funding (see EUROPE 13621/6).
Discussions will also focus on strengthening EU-AU cooperation as the two political entities celebrate 25 years of partnership in 2025.
At the beginning of April, several EU countries supported the idea of setting up a mechanism to monitor the commitments made jointly by the European Union and the African Union. The many promises and declarations of intent, particularly those made at the last EU/AU summit, are struggling to be followed up due to the lack of a structured framework for dialogue outside of ministerial meetings and large-scale summits, which are more episodic (see EUROPE 13618/5).
In addition, the EU-African Union Ministerial Council could lay the foundations for a seventh summit between the EU and African Heads of State or Government (see EUROPE 13608/15).
More than thirty African ministers are expected to be present in Brussels, according to a European diplomat on Monday. A joint political declaration is due to be presented at the end of the meeting by the EU and the AU. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)