Brussels, 04/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - As the first formal meeting of the leaders of the African Union (AU), chaired by South Africa, begins in Maputo (Mozambique, 4-12 July), the European Commission which was invited to take part as an observer published a communication on Friday on EU-Africa dialogue. The aim of the communication is to state the ways to make this dialogue progress after the sine die postponement of the EU/Africa Summit that was to be held in April in Lisbon.
Poul Nielson, European Development Commissioner, flies to Maputo on Sunday and will be joined there on 11 July by President Romano Prodi for the Summit of African Union Heads of State (10-12 July). It is possible that a troika of the Union, represented at ministerial level, will also take part.
This very high level meeting - the first since the creation one year ago of the AU - aims essentially to consolidate this Union's structures by electing ten members of the African Commission. Mr Nielson plans to deliver a "strong message of support from the Commission to the work that the AU has set out to do" in areas such as peace and security, good governance and economic integration.