Public Consultation
The consultation were divided into two phases, following the official negotiation process. The first phase lasted between February and May, leading up to the joint EU-Africa Ministerial Troika Meeting on 15 May where an outline of the future joint Strategy was approved. The second phase of the consultation was taken place from May 2007 until the EU-Africa Summit foreseen in December 2007, where the Joint Strategy has been official approved. This page provides information about the second phase of the consultation, as well as questions and answers on the first phase . The consultations were concluded with the approval of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy at the Lisbon Summit 2007. Go directly to ‘first phase of the public consultation’
The second phase of the public consultation (May-Dec 2007)
The second phase of the consultation has taken place from May 2007 until the EU-Africa Summit in December 2007. The outline of the future joint EU-Africa Strategy provides an official basis for civil society organisations to engage upon. As of May, the consultation has thus been of a different nature, relating to the outline.
Questions and answers on the second phase
What were the main events?
What were the opportunities to influence the process?
How will ECDPM facilitate the consultations?
What position papers have been received?
What were the main events?Various events were planned on both continents, by civil society organisations as well as the institutions. This list presents the main events. Civil society events
Official negotiations Two significant official events were planned:
Other events organised by EU and /or AU institutions
EU decision-making process An EC Communication and an EC-Council Secretariat joint paper were published on 27 June 2007 by the European Commission and the Council. Both documents have served as a basis for the debate among EU Member States as well as for a reaction by the European Parliament. The EC-Council Secretariat joint paper commented the outline approved on 15 May by the EU-Africa Ministerial Troika while the EC Communication provided an overview of the evolution of the EU-Africa relationship since the Cairo Summit as well as some proposals for the agenda of the foreseen Lisbon Summit. While European and African experts continued to elaborate the Strategy, the action plan and discussed the future Lisbon Declaration and the agenda for the Summit, these issues have been debated by the European Member States mainly through the Africa Working Group and the ad hoc expert working group of the European Council. The ad hoc expert working group met before each joint expert meeting (see calendar) while the Africa working group met once a month. The future joint EU-Africa Strategy and other above mentioned issues will then be discussed at the Ministerial level in October at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) which approved an almost final version of the Strategy before it has been presented at the joint EU-Africa Ministerial Troika on 31 October 2007. In parallel the European Parliament has been preparing a report to contribute to the debate on this issue. Maria Martens (MEP rapporteur on this issue) has introduced this report to the DEVE Committee at the end of August. The DEVE Committee has approved it at the end of September and for the report to be adopted by the Plenary during its session on 22-25 October (see calendar). AU decision-making process calendar Available shortly. You will find a complete calendar of relevant events 2007 on this website. What were the opportunities to influence the process?There were several ways in which one could have tried to influence the official negotiations.
How has ECDPM facilitated the consultations?ECDPM has continued to provide the following to the process:
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The first phase of the public consultation
The first phase of the consultation lasted between February and May, 2007. It led up to the approval of an outline of the future joint Strategy on 15 May by the joint EU-Africa Ministerial Troika Meeting. The public consultation was mainly carried out through an Internet consultation on this website, open to all Europeans and Africans. It also comprised a seminar organised by the African Union Commission (AUC) for a number of representatives of African civil society in Accra, Ghana, on 26-28 March and a conference co-organised by VENRO and ECDPM in Bad Honnef, Germany, on 23-24 April.
Questions and answers on the first phase
What issues were raised and to what extent were they reflected in the first outline?
How was the public consultation structured?
What contributions were received in the framework of the Internet consultation?
What conferences were held?
How did the consultations link up with the institutional negotiations?
What is planned for the second phase of this consultation?
What issues were raised and to what extent were they reflected in the first outline?Recommendations have been given by civil society in Africa and Europe mainly through two seminars (in Accra, Ghana and in Bad Honnef, Germany) and the internet consultation. This ECDPM paper summarizes issues raised and provides an analysis of to what extent these have or have not been integrated in the outline approved on 15 May. Read the paper - doc ; pdf The key messages from the internet consultation as well as the two civil society conferences that took place in Africa and Europe respectively are presented in three separate reports. View them here. How was the public consultation structured?EU and AU officials agreed to structure their initial negotiations along five priority themes for the EU-Africa dialogue. The consultation was likewise structured according to these themes. Issue papers were drafted by ECDPM on these themes and approved by both EU and AU officials to be used as a basis for the consultation. The issue papers provided background on each of these five themes and possible questions arising in that framework were listed. At a later stage, more in depth discussions on each of the five topics were formulated on the basis of the issues raised in the public debate and those emerging from the institutional negotiations. Comments and position papers were mostly structured along these five themes. See the links below for information on the five themes, as well as for the comments made and position papers sent on each theme.
What contributions were received in the framework of the Internet consultation?The Internet consultation received 37 position papers from 34 organisations and networks, spread over the various topics of the consultation. These can be downloaded here - pdf All contributions, including those received after the first phase was closed, can be viewed here. Apart from sending position papers 18 other organisations posted shorter statements on the website. The consultation has also received contributions from nearly 100 individuals. These can be downloaded here - pdf What conferences were held?Two conferences were held during the first phase of the consultation, one in Accra, Ghana, and one in Bad Honnef, Germany. The EU-Africa relations and the Joint Strategy were also on the agenda of other events, which can be seen in the calendar. Accra conference As an initial step in the African Civil Society Organizations’ Consultation on AU - EU Joint Strategy for Africa’s Development a conference was held in Accra, Ghana, from 26 - 28 March 2007. It was organised by the African Citizens Directorate (CIDO) of the African Union Commission and attended by 43 participants from African civil society organisations. The purpose was to kick-start the African consultation on the EU-Africa Strategy, to inform civil society of the process as well as formulate initial recommendations for the negotiations. A steering committee of representatives from civil society was elected to follow up on the process until the end of the year. More information and the conference report are available here. Bad Honnef conference The Conference on ‘Civil Society and the Joint EU-Africa Strategy’ was organised by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in cooperation with VENRO, the Association of German development NGOs. It took place on 23-24 April in Bad Honnef (near Bonn, Germany). As one of the first civil society events on this topic in Europe, the conference brought together around 100 African and European civil society actors and AU and EU officials. The aim of the conference was to formulate clear expectations of a representative sample of key Civil Society Organisations vis-à-vis the EU and AU regarding the contents of the EU-Africa strategy and their role in it. A further aim of the conference was to identify common viewpoints and to develop recommendations to the official negotiators, so that these could be taken into account in the deliberations of the EU-Africa Ministerial Troika Meeting on 15 May in order to adopt a first outline of the Joint Strategy. More information and the conference report are available here. How did the consultations link up with the institutional negotiations?ECDPM, as facilitators of this process, have aimed to continuously link between the public debate and the official negotiations. We submitted the initial comments and ideas presented on the web site to the first expert meeting of the official negotiators in late February. A preliminary report was submitted before their second meeting at the end of March, whereas a final draft of the internet consultations was submitted before the final negotiations leading up to the Ministerial Troika Meeting on 15 May. Representatives from ECDPM were also present at most of the expert meetings and thus able to present the results of the consultations in person and likewise report from the meetings to the public debate. Apart from the reports we have regularly reported on the process through the bulletin, which has also been sent to the officials. Read more about the official negotiations here |
