Brussels, 06/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - Seven years after the first EU/Africa Summit in Cairo, Lisbon will be hosting the second EU/Africa Summit on 8 and 9 December, which should breathe new life into relations between Europe and Africa - two continents that are closely linked by history and which are both undergoing major changes in a globalised world. The Cairo Summit had triggered a more structured political dialogue between the EU and Africa with regular meetings between senior officials and ministers. However, the real turning point in this dialogue came about in 2001 with the launch of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development) and more still with the creation in 2002 of the African Union. The EU, moreover, plans to soon open a delegation in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), the seat of the African Union (AU). Koen Vervaeke, a Belgian diplomat, who is currently Head of the Africa Unit at the Council General Secretariat and Political Advisor to Javier Solana, High Representative for CFSP, was designated on 5 December to take on this dual function as Special EU Representative and Head of the European Commission Delegation with the African Union.
The two continents now aspire to a new strategic partnership between equals based on far-reaching and enlarged political dialogue, a common vision and shared principles, a partnership centred on political and economic responsibilities on the world stage. Their aim is to seek, together, common answers to common challenges: governance and human rights; peace and security; migration; energy and climate change; trade, infrastructure and development. These common challenges have been identified as the priorities of the common strategy and first concrete action plan (2008-2010) put to the approval of the summit to which Portuguese President Anibal Antonio Cavaco Silva has invited 53 African countries (the 52 member states of the African Union plus the Kingdom of Morocco), the African Commission, the 27 EU member states, the European Commission, and the Secretariat General of the EU Council. Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, has confirmed that he will attend this international meeting (a motive for authorising derogation to the visa ban foreseen as part of the EU's sanctions). British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not be attending.
The EU has every hope that the polemic surrounding Robert Mugabe and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) reviled by some African countries and in particular by the Senegalese president, Abdulaye Wade (EUROPE 9555) will not distract attention from what is essential and will not reduce the import of a historic summit. “Throughout the preparations, the Portuguese EU Council Presidency, like the German Presidency before it, has not ceased to point out that it is not an EU/Zimbabwe summit but the second Europe/Africa summit which was to be held in 2003 but postponed for too long”, a European diplomatic source stressed. Aware that it will be necessary to reckon with the presence of the Zimbabwean president, the EU plans to seize the opportunity provided by the debate on Zimbabwe to send a powerful message on human rights and democracy to Robert Mugabe, as decided by the EU foreign minsters (EUROPE 9546).
A sort of profession of faith in the EU/Africa common strategy and its first plan of action, the Lisbon Declaration, finalised by both parties at the latest ministerial meeting for preparation of the summit (Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, on 5 December), stresses the unique opportunity given to the two continents to jointly tackle the contemporary challenges, and Europe and Africa's determination to “build a new partnership of equals addressing the full width and richness of our heritage and visions for the future”.
“This new partnership, based on interdependence, sovereign equality and respect, will involve the whole African continent in an integrated way and will enable us to address common concerns in the pursuit of peace, stability, progress and development”, the declaration reads. It continues: “We will develop a partnership of peoples based on the effective engagement of our societies, in order to achieve significant results in our fundamental commitments: the attainment of the Millenium Development Goals, the promotion of good governance and human rights, the establishment of a robust peace and security architecture in Africa and the creation of opportunities for shaping global governance in an open and multilateral framework”.
The partners also agreed to create a comprehensive and effective follow-up mechanism, one that can deliver on these goals and show us the results at the occasion of the third summit that shall be held in 2010.
Before flying to Lisbon, José Manuel Barroso told the press in Brussels on 6 December what he expected to come out of the meeting in Lisbon. “It is not an ordinary summit. I see it as a new departure in relations between the two continents. My first message is that Africa must be a priority in our external relations. Secondly, it is time to radically change the approach that we have towards each other, to come out of the donor/beneficiary relationship to launch a true partnership between Africa and Europe, based on common interests and the need to raise international challenges together. I trust that all of us - political leaders and civil society of both continents - will be ready to open dialogue and reach concrete results to eliminate stereotypes and recognise the importance of this turning point in our relations. It is a good thing to help - but cooperation and political dialogue is even better”, the European Commission's president said. He added: “It is a wonderful thing that Europeans build schools and hospitals in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. But did you know that access to clean drinking water would reduce the risk of infant mortality by 55%? And that Africa only uses 7% of its potential in hydroelectricity? Or that one growth point in African exports would be equal to five times the amount of aid that the continent receives?”. Moving from a “European policy for Africa,” as was adopted by the EU in 2005, to a “policy with Africa, drawn up and managed together” is, Barroso said, the Summit's main aim, bringing benefits to both parties who “share the same values and interests”. “We have every reason to be optimistic,” said Barroso, highlighting the progress made by Africa in governance, democratic elections, and reduction of conflicts. However, the continuing conflicts and human rights violations was justification for human rights being on the Summit agenda, he said, stating that he did not understand “why countries which fought to free their land from colonisation do not, today, fight for the freedom of their citizens”.
Barroso welcomed the fact that, along with the joint EU-Africa strategy, there was an action plan comprising eight partnerships: the partnership for peace and security; the partnership for democratic governance and human rights; the partnership for “Trade and regional integration”; the partnership for the realisation of the millennium goals for development; the partnership for energy; the partnership on climate change; the partnership on science, the information society and space; and the partnership on migration, mobility and employment. For each of these there were objectives, expected outcomes, activities to be carried out, the players and sources of finance. European Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel, who has several times set out his vision of the new Europe-Africa partnership and the hoped for change in relations between the two continents, reiterated the need to modernise these relations and move towards a more political and economic partnership, taking account of historic and cultural links between Europe and Africa, and the new state of affairs: Africa on the move, Africa being sought after because of its geo-strategic importance, Africa which will no longer be the EU's exclusive domain (see EUROPE 9552).
The Summit will open with a dinner on the evening of Friday 7 December.
On Saturday 8 December, the first plenary session will be built around five issues, identified as the strategic priorities of the new EU-Africa partnership, and will begin with governance and human rights. The afternoon will be devoted to open exchanges, with no set agenda, to allow heads of state and government to intervene freely.
On Sunday 9 December, the conclusion of the events organised on the sidelines of the Summit will be presented to the heads of state and government, prior to their adoption of a joint EU-Africa strategy, the action plan and the Lisbon declaration.
On 7 December, the eve of the Summit, the EU-Africa parliamentary summit will be held. This will adopt a joint declaration calling for the parliamentary dimension of the future EU-Africa strategy to be enhanced. The president of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering and Gertrude Mongella, the president of the pan-African Parliament will carry the messages of this gathering to the heads of state and government at the opening of the Summit. Among the many other events, feature an EU-Africa youth summit and an EU-Africa entrepreneurial summit, the aim of which is to strengthen the economic dimension of relations between Africa and the EU, the involvement of the private sector, working with the African and European Unions, and African economic development through trade, investment, development of resources and infrastructure - all topics which will be debated in round table discussions. (A.N.)