By Estelle Drew

The Cairo EU-Africa summit in April saw European and African political leaders dust off old feuds and settle into heated diatribes. It was overshadowed by the row between Britain and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe argued that Britain should mind its own business.

But even the build-up to the summit saw rancour break out. The EU had asked that the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) (Western Sahara) be invited to the summit, upsetting Morocco. But chagrin did not stop between these two. Other national guests pointed out that neither Morocco not the SADR were members of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Others pointed out that the SADR is not even a recognised state. By the time it reached the desk of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the current president of the OAU, the SADR had decided not to take part.

This high level contact between the EU and Africa follows the recent ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held in Abuja in March and the EU is preparing to sign a new convention with ACP countries in Fiji in June.

Whatever the public persona of these meetings, they are offering unexpected opportunities for dialogue. The Cairo summit was marked by the presence of Colonel Gaddafi, who held a number of meetings with European leaders as part of his strategy to improve relations with the EU.

Although a number of important economic and social issues were raised, conflict prevention and respect for human rights on the African continent were never far from the minds of the politicians. While the list of countries in Africa beset by internal conflict seems to grow every year, the recent peaceful transfer of power in Senegal’s presidential elections was publicly applauded by the international community.

Essential elements

One important aspect of the ACP-EU Convention is that any breach in the respect for human rights and the rule of law by signatories can lead to the suspension of cooperation between the country concerned and the EU. The EU is Africa’s main financial backer and as such, any suspension of aid would have a direct impact on the economy of the country concerned.

British Conservative members of the European Parliament - which is the institution that finally decides the EU’s budget - have been urging the EU to suspend non-humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe, accusing Mugabe of undermining democracy.

The EU failed to introduce good governance as part of the “essential elements” in the new partnership agreement with the ACP, seen as key in the EU’s drive to tackle corruption on the continent. Development commissioner Poul Nielsen reiterated at the summit that corruption in Africa was preventing business from further investing on the continent.

The other main issue before the summit - which was supposed to be primarily an event on political and security affairs - was economic development, added at the request of African participants. It was stressed by both African and European leaders that Africa must not be excluded from the benefits of globalisation. French President Jacques Chirac pointed out that globalisation should not mean simply that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. He reaffirmed his disagreement with the United States’ declaration on “trade but not aid” for Africa, seeing aid as an essential element in Africa’s development. Chirac also argued that the G8 initiative on Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) needs to be implemented quickly by all creditor countries. The total African debt was estimated in 1998 at some $310bn.

As a result, achieving the overriding objective of sustainable development in Africa lies partly with the African leaders, who have responsibility for enforcing good governance and the respect for human rights. But it is also partly the responsibility of the EU, through ensuring that fair trade and aid are provided in order to achieve the common goal of sustainable economic development.

The summit ended with the adoption of a joint declaration and an action plan aimed at providing a new political impulse to the instruments and structures linking Europe and Africa. However, as pointed out by Robin Cook, Britain’s Foreign Minister, if “this summit remains only two days of good talks and pleasant hospitality we will have failed.” The next summit in three years time will allow for an assessment of the EU’s common foreign and security policy in Africa and must demonstrate how it has led to building a democratic environment in Africa.

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