A major summit between the European Union and the African Union opens this Thursday, February 17 in Brussels. A summit where the relationship between the two continents will be at the heart of the discussions.
With our special correspondents in Brussels, Paulina Zidi and Pierre Firtion
This is the sixth meeting of its kind. The European Union and the African Union are meeting this Thursday and Friday and at a summit in Brussels. No less than 80 heads of state and government are announced, half of them from the continent.
The format of this meeting has been revised. Gone is the traditional plenary session where each Head of State had only a few minutes to speak. The European and French organizers have innovated by setting up round tables in which around twenty Heads of State will take part each time, as well as outside personalities, from the IMF or the World Bank, for example. There will thus be seven round tables divided by theme: financing growth, security and governance, but also migration, health, energy transition, education and economic integration. These round tables will each time be chaired by two leaders who will then report on their work to their peers.
The objective is thus to make the debates more fluid and to allow more direct and frank discussions. Because if the points of convergence are regularly highlighted, the subjects of friction between the two continents are not lacking, whether on issues of migration, climate, security or governance. Faced with a Europe suspected of dictating its choices, will Africa succeed in making its voice heard? Beyond the ringing and stumbling commitments, one of the objectives of this sixth summit will be to relaunch a relationship that has been sorely tested by the Covid-19 crisis.
Europe will also have to take into account African concerns
As well ” the skepticism of Africans in the face of the nervousness of Europeans is the prevailing state of mind on the eve of this summit, believes Europe-Africa relations specialist Geert Laporte. Europe wants to redefine the partnership between the two continents through what it presented in March 2020 as ” its strategy with Africa “. But in two years, the enthusiasm has waned, revealing a partnership often described as ” asymmetric “.
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As proof, the Covid crisis with a solidarity mechanism which has stalled, in particular on vaccines, and the arrival of the Omicron variant which has caused diplomatic tensions. ” The South Africans have been transparent, explains a researcher, but the Europeans responded by closing the borders. Which angered South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In a more uncertain international context, Europe needs partners and therefore to secure its relationship with a continent to which it is close, at a time when it is coveted by other powers. More than funding promises, Europe will also have to take African concerns into account. For Maximilienne Ngo Mbe, Cameroonian human rights activist and director of the Network of Human Rights Defenders of Central Africa (REDDHAC), partnerships must be technical and not just financial:
” We must increasingly ask the European Union for technical support. Because it must be said clearly, there are weaknesses on technical issues, on development, on good governance, on human rights. And avoid telling us that the European Union will put 178 million euros for Cameroon only. It’s enormous ! We simply want a win-win partnership: we also have things to give to the European Union. The African Union cannot become this chamber which receives money and which afterwards does not even know how to say: “That’s not what we need”. »
But, at the same time, Europe wants to make Africa its preferred partner, but is it ready to make concessions? asks researcher Geert Laporte. For the latter, it will be necessary to follow the discussions around the migration question in particular to have the first elements of answers.