A pre-Summit Civil Society Forum was held in Accra, Ghana, on 19-21 June. It included a discussion on the way forward on the Joint EU-Africa Strategy as well as a presentation of the public consultations so far.
Download the report - pdf
Download the agenda - doc
Download the presentation made of the public consultation, by Marie-Laure de Bergh, ECDPM - ppt
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The press release by the Commission reads:
Read the press release in full here.
Download the communication: ‘From Cairo to Lisbon – The EU-Africa Strategic Partnership’ - pdf
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Connections for Development (CfD) and African Diaspora Voices for Africa’s Development (ADVAD) in collaboration with the British Overseas NGOs for Development (BOND) EU Policy Team held a consultation meeting on Tuesday 29th May 2007 with UK African Diaspora civil society, individuals and interested parties to gather their views on how these stakeholders could influence the Joint EU-African Strategy.
The meeting maintained that the EU, the African Union (AU) and the African Diaspora should adopt new partnerships for Africa’s development, and that the Joint Strategy has the potential to work for both Europe and Africa. They formulated recommendations to the EU, tha AU and the EU African Diaspora respectively.
The report of the consultation also includes separate papers in annex.
Download the report in full - pdf
See contributions by other organisations here.
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This is the eighteenth issue of the Europafrica bulletin, which will give you an up-date on the implementation process of the joint EU-Africa Strategy. The bulletin is issued 1-2 times per month. Subscribe by sending an e-mail to: europafrica@ecdpm.org
European Parliament election in 2009 and its impact on EU development agenda
In June 2009 half a billion European citizens in all 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) will elect 736 Members of the European Parliament in the biggest trans-national election in history. Romina Vegro, BOND EU Policy Officer, looks at the significance of this in relation to the development agenda.
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EU Renews Its Intentions towards aid for Africa
During a summit in Brussels last week (19-20th of June) , the EU’s presidents and prime ministers agreed an ‘agenda for action’ against poverty. The summit reiterated the Member States commitment to devoting 0.56 percent of thecollective national income to development aid by 2010, rising to 0.7 percent by 2015. As a result, aid should double to 66 billion euros (103 billion dollars) within the next two years, with half of the increase going to Africa.
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AU, G8 meeting underlines capacity building for African peace architecture
Within the framework of the Joint Africa/G8 Plan to Enhance African Capabilities to Undertake Peace Support Operations, the Annual Consultation between the Commission of the African Union (AU), members of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), the Regional Mechanisms for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution, representatives of the G8 member countries, the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) and other partners took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 13 June 2008.
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Historic moment”:first meeting to integrate NEPAD into AU
‘A historic moment’ that is how the Chairman of the African Union Commission (AUC), Jean Ping, described the inaugural meeting of the NEPAD Coodinating Unit, established by the African Union to oversee the integration of NEPAD into the processes and structures of the AU.
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African peace facility – Financing for 2008-2010
At the 2878th Council meeting on General Affairs and External Relations, the Council approved an EU position on a draft decision, to be adopted by the EU-ACP committee of ambassadors, on the preparation of an action programme for the financing of the African peace facility (APF) for the period 2008-2010.
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18 Month Programme of the Council
At the 2878th Council meeting on General Affairs and External Relations, the incoming French and future Czech and Swedish presidencies have presented a draft 18-month programme of the Council for the second half of 2008 and the year 2009.
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EU Council conclusions on implementation of the EU/Africa Joint Strategy
The 2870th Council meeting on External Relations held in Brussels on 26-27 May 2008 reaffirmed the importance of the implementation of the EU/Africa Joint Strategy adopted during the last EU/Africa Summit in Lisbon on 8 and 9 December 2007.
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Council Conclusions on enhancing the Global Approach to Migration (5-6 June 2008 )
At the 2873rd JUSTICE and HOME AFFAIRS Council meeting in Luxembourg, on the 5th and 6th of June 2008, the Council underlined the importance of continuing the dialogue, partnership and cooperation with third countries on migration issues in a comprehensive and regionally balanced manner.
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France will take over the EU Presidency on the 1st of July 2008
Under the motto “a more protective Europe”, France takes over the rotating EU Presidency in the second half of 2008 with a keen eye on energy, climate change, defence and immigration policy. From 1 July to 31 December 2008, France will organise and chair the European Council meetings. Please consult the official website for further questions. A provisional calendar for July 2008 has already been made available.
Project Launch of ‘European Development Co-operation to 2020′ in Brussels
On 2 June 2008 the EDC2020 project was officially launched in Brussels. EDC2020 is a three-years project funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union.
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Joint Africa-EU Strategy: A problem for African and EU CSO to engage
Upon invitation from Skop (Malta’s platform of 13 NGOs), Ms Kurat from VENRO, a German platform for NGOs, gave an overview of EU-Africa relations and structures. In an interview with ‘‘The Times’, she emphasized that at European level a number of issues need urgent rethinking.
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EU Troika meeting with South Africa
The relations between the European Union and the Republic of South Africa and an overall assessment of the situation in Africa were the key topics of the EU-South Africa ministerial meeting held on the 3rd of June 2008 in Slovenia.
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Detailed agenda of the AU-EU Roundtable of April 1st made available
The European Commisson in collaboration with the AU Permanent Mission to the EU organised a roundtable on the 1st of April 2008 in Brussels, Belgium entitled ‘Prospects for the EU-AU partnership: institutional aspects’.
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7th Edition of the Economic African Outlook (2008 AEO) was launched
The 7th edition of the African Economic Outlook (2008 AEO) was launched on 13 May in Paris and Berlin, and was introduced at the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) group in Maputo on 11 May. It was produced by the AfDB, the OECD Development Centre, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa with financial support from the European Commission.
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40 Egyptian CSOs get trained by the CCP-AU to better engage with AU
On May 24th and 25th 2008, the Centre for Citizens Participation in the African Union (CCP-AU) - in collaboration with the Egyptian Business Women Association (EBWA), the Cairo Institute of Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Fahamu, the Federation Internationale des Droits de l”Homme (FIDH) and Oxfam Liaison Office with the African Union - organized a training workshop for Egyptian and other North African CSOs on the African Union : “Understanding the African Union and Seizing Opportunities for Change” in Cairo, Egypt.
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Readings
The European External Action Service: Roadmap for Success - Chatham House Report - Brian Crowe, May 2008
ogether within an EU framework. The EU currently performs inadequately on foreign policy, and its arrangements, which developed informally,, have not been fit for purpose. The future changes under the Lisbon Treaty will give the EU more effective means to formulate and implement agreed common policies, and will help to generate the necessary political will among member states.
Options for the EU to Support the African Peace and Security Architecture - Alex Vines and Roger Middleton, June 2008
Written by the Head of the Africa Programme Alex Vines and researcher Roger Middleton, the report recommends that greater attention be paid to supporting AU administrative capacity and better coordinating EU support to build on commendably rapid progress by the African Union in the face of numerous and complex security challenges.
The EU a saviour of the African Union? – Siegmar Schmidt (text only in German)
The author examines the role of the African Union in the EU development policy framework for Africa. He looks to EU programmes to help close the capacity gap of the AU and notes that the EU counts on the AU as central partner within the new EU-Africa partnership. He also argues that the AU can hardly meet these high expectations without external help. Consequently the EU supports various areas including peace and security, institutional architecture and the development program NEPAD.
The AU has an integration Problem – Christian von Soest (text only in German)
C. von Soest concludes that the new African Union Commission faces a major challenge to reduce the economic divides between Africa’s various regional blocs before they become greater threats to continental unity. Furthermore, although the African Union Commission should steer the integration process, it lacks the operative capacity doing so.
China’s Environmental Footprint in Africa - Peter Bosshard
China has great strategic interests in Africa, and Africa will benefit from a continued strengthening of its cooperation with China, says Peter Bosshard. Such South-South cooperation will promote growth and much-needed investment.
Developmental Aid Workers Are Killing Africa - By Thilo Thielke
No one has to starve in Africa. Hunger there results from the failures of unscrupulous rulers -and their friends in the West. Paradoxically, it is the aid workers who are standing in the way of progress.
The case for cash aid to Africans − not to their governments by Göran Holmqvist
The European Union is committed to scaling-up its aid to Africa. But traditional aid delivery methods like direct budget support are often unpopular in both donor and host countries. Göran Holmqvist argues for a new approach, and suggests that direct cash payments to Africa’s poorest citizens could be the answer.
The European Report on Development - An arena for ideas By Ellen Lammers
The European Report on Development (ERD) is intended to improve the visibility of the EU at the global level and help it shape the international development agenda. Only little of the research at European institutes reaches international policy discussions. The ‘mobilizing European research for development policies’ initiative is intended to bridge the gap between European researchers and policymakers.
How Europe underdevelops Africa and how some fight back - Patrick Bond
Even in the most exploitative African sites of repression, sometimes corporations take a hit, and victims unite on continental lines instead of being divided-and-conquered. Turns in the class struggle might have surprised Walter Rodney, the political economist whose 1972 classic “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” provided detailed critiques of corporate looting. Across the continent, “exploitation by other European capitalists and politicians has become so extreme that something has to break”, argues Patrick Bond, the author of this article.
Europe’s role in an unequal world - Green pastures for all - By Ellen Lammers
In the late 1990s, the development bureaucracy in Brussels was the target of heavy criticism. The different branches of European foreign policy devoted more time to infighting than to finding solutions to the new challenges in the world. Things are now changing.
Perspectives and Strategies of the European Union’s Africa Policy after the Lisbon Summit – by Marco Overhaus
This Issue of the Foreign Policy in dialogue, assesses perspectives, strategies and motives of European Union’s common policy towards Africa.
Events
23-26/06/2008 Committee meetings (Brussels, European Parliament)
25/06/2008 Coreper I and II, Brussels
27/06/2008 Coreper I, Brussels
25-27/06/2008 Preparatory meeting - 3rd Civil Society Forum (ACP Secretariat)
24 - 25/06/08-16th Ordinary Session of the Permanent Representatives’ Committee (PRC) (Egypt)
27 - 28/06/08 -13th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council (Egypt)
30/06/08- 1/07/08- 11th Ordinary Session of the Assembly (Egypt)
24 June - 1 July 2008: 11th Summit of the AU , Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
02/07/2008 Briefing on “New players, new drivers in development” (Brussels, Belgium)
7-9 July 2008-Meeting of the programme Steering Committee for the African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) Project (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia)
13/07/08 Paris Summit for the Mediterranean (Paris, France)
25/07/2008 EU-South Africa Summit (Bordeaux, France)
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The Portuguese National Platform is, together with CONCORD and other partners, organising a civil society conference in Lisbon on the 29-31 October. The event will be attended by civil society actors and parliamentarians from both Europe and Africa, and will prepare recommendations to be presented to the Heads of States Summit in December. Topics on the agenda include democratic governance, various development issues as well as migration and development.
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