EU-Africa Summit: Anticipation high for future EU-Africa relations

High-level event discusses prosperity and peace

By Maas Mboup

Heads of State from the European Union and from the African continent met on 2 and 3 April 2014 in  Brussels for a high-level summit, the theme of which was 'Investing in people, prosperity and peace'. It is the fourth time such an event has taken place. This year saw 80 leaders gather in the Belgian capital.

The main goals were to relaunch co-operation between the two continents, confront common challenges, and push for a new dynamic in relations between the two blocs, particularly at a time when emerging countries, such as China are becoming ever more prominent on the world stage.

The summit began with great pomp and  ceremony on the back of speeches by the main political players from Europe and Africa: Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Acting Head of the African Union and Nkozana Dlamini-Zuma, President of the Commission for African Union. The focus was on the inter-dependance of the two continents, which are separated geographically by a mere 13km from Detroit of Gibraltar and have strong cultural and historical links.

The speakers also reaffirmed their commitment to the objectives outlined in the African-European joint strategy, adopted at the Lisbon summit of 2007.

Anticipation of what is at stake was particularly high. The discussion quickly moved to the current situation, the global question of peace and security, a core-theme of the summit in the context of events  shaking sub-Saharan Africa, in particular the Central African Republic (CAR). It was in this context that a special meeting was convened, presided by French President, François Hollande,  and Herman Van Rompuy along with the heads of state of that region. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary of the United Nations was also present.  Catherine Samba-Panza, Président of the transitional Central African Republic, spoke about the problems affecting the region. Those attending the meeting committed to a number of measures in terms of humanitarian intervention, as well as to a co-ordinated action by the international community to improve reconciliation and guarantee stability and peace to CAR. Such opportunities and initiatives come at the right moment for this African country, which has plunged into a months-long civil war, with devastating consequences.

A question still remains unanswered, however: will the financial resources put aside be sufficient to get this country out of the doldrums through the efforts deployed by Europe's military force, Eufor-RCA? Nothing is certain.

Against a backdrop of fatal incidents in Spain and Italy, European and African leaders were equally concerned with other crucial matters such as the issue of migration from sub-Saharan Africa towards Europe. Determined not to relive the Lampedusa tragedy, with a line of 300 illegal immigrant coffins, the leaders of the two continents agreed to fight illegal immigration more effectively. From this, the adoption of an action plan from 2014-2017, which includes the return and re-admission of people living illegally in Europe. The document published following the summit, underlined the positive elements of migration and for the improvement of the system of money transfers from their country of origin. On the other hand, it is also a question of putting in place, action to consolidate the fight against the maltreatment of human beings, while reinforcing international protection for asylum-seekers and other displaced persons inside of that same country. It seems that there has been a "real advancement" in reconciling Europeans and Africans, in comparison to the last EU-Africa summit held in Tripoli, Libya in 2010.

Among the other important decisions taken at the summit were those concerning climate change. It was easy to find a consensus on the issue, which affects all industrialized nations as well as the most vulnerable parts of the world, in particular on the African continent. The EU and Africa are determined to work together in light of adopting an agreement of "fairness, equality and legally binding" ahead of  the UN conference on climate change, to be held in Paris next year, in which these principles will apply to all parties.

Other matters on the summit agenda concerned economics, with the focus on increasing growth in investments between the two continents. Both will  seek to improve the business climate by giving access to credit for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It was this line  that guided the organisers of the EU-Africa Business Forum, which took place a day in advance of the summit, and which brought together hundreds of entrepreneurs and business people, coming from diverse backgrounds from both continents.

In accordance with the Agreement for Economic Partnership (EPAs), the European Union agreed to pursue negotiations in order to conclude a free exchange agreement, which could lead to the economic integration both regionally and within  Africa. The heads of state of ECOWAS used the occasion to inform their European partners concerning decisions taken at the meeting at Yamoussoukro, notably the two month time frame that was imposed - the time given to agree the technical details before signing an agreement.

The Brussels summit was not a small affair given the number of discussions, and the complex nature of many of them. It remains to be seen if the results obtained were similar to those anticipated. Opinions are divided on this. The more optimistic believe that the Brussels summit was a turning point, and that a powerful alliance between Europe and Africa has been created. The more cautious wonder if such a large gathering can shift the goalposts and really bring about long term solutions that will benefit European and African citizens. The next summit set to be held in 2017 on african soil will be the moment to measure the advancements and the progress achieved.

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