Concord met with Parliamentarians from South and North

First published on the Euforic Blog

During the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, that was held from 6 to 9 April 2009 in Prague, Concord discussed with Parliamentarians from the ACP countries and the EU member states about various policy issues. An elaboration of the most important issues on the agenda can be found in a series of Concord Briefing Papers.

Review of the 10th EDF The 10th EDF financing EC aid to ACP countries runs from 2008 until 2013. The mid-term review of the Country Strategy Papers which form the basis of EDF programming, is scheduled to take place in 2009.

Concord is critical (see Briefing Paper) about the fact that the review of the guidelines which will decide on the scope of the process, are currently only discussed within the European Commission without participation of the EU or ACP Parliamentarians, the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) or Civil Society. These groups were also excluded from programming within the 10th EDF which is in violation of the ‘ownership’ and ‘partnership’ principles as promoted by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA). Concord demands to use the mid-term review as an opportunity to make current EC aid more democratic and in line with the CPA principles.

Review of the CPA The next review of the CPA is planned to take place in 2010. According to Concord (see Briefing Paper) the review will have serious consequences on the relations between the EU and the ACP countries.

If the European Commission succeeds in streamlining the CPA according to the demands of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES), this will weaken the original Agreement which implies downgrading the EDF to a funding mechanism for the JAES, the funding of non-ACP countries through the EDF and the weakening of ACP institutions. Furthermore this might jeopardize the CPA demands on participation of Non-State Actors and Parliamentarians. Additionally, the Political Dialogue could be weakened limiting it to policies which are of interest to the EU (i.e. migration, security, governance) while ignoring others (the economic, climate and food crises).

Concord believes that overloading the CPA with new political priorities is a serious concern and could undermine essential elements of the agreement relating to human rights and democratic principles.

Civil Society and Parliamentarians The participation of Non-State Actors and Parliamentarians in all policy and programming processes is one of the core principles within the Cotonou framework. In reference to this the European and Pan-African Parliament recently demanded oversight in the drafting of ACP Country Strategy Papers, which should go beyond ‘information only’. The ACP JPA agreed that ACP parliaments should play a role in the Country Strategy Papers. The upcoming reviews will provide an opportunity to examine how this works in practice. Concord praises the effectiveness of its cooperation with the JPA and proposes steps to further improve collaboration through joint agendas and improved communication in-between meetings (see Briefing Paper).

See also the Briefing Papers on – Intra ACP funds – Gender and Development – Governance as new priority in EU-ACP relations – Africa-EU Strategy – EPA

by Martin Behrens

See Euforic’s newsfeeds on Concord and on the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

 

ECDPM reviews progress of the Joint Africa- Europe Strategy

First published on the Euforic Blog

Africa remained high on the agenda of the international community in 2008. While India and China continued their involvement with African countries, also other global players like Russia, the USA, Turkey or Japan showed their increased or renewed commitment. Here, issues of energy security and climate change were increasingly important. On the other hand global crises like the financial and economic breakdown and the food crisis had negative effects on the development of the African continent.

In December 2007 a Joint Africa-Europe Strategy and its associated Action Plan were adopted. With its partnership approach, the holistic perspective on Africa, its 8 Thematic Partnerships and the envisioned strong role for civil society and parliaments, the Strategy distinguishes itself from previous initiatives in Euro-African relations.

One year after the adoption of the Joint Strategy, an ECDPM paper takes stock of the progress made in 2008 and reflects on its ambitious goals. It shows that progress was mainly made in the area of the institutional architecture. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the involvement of the relevant actors on both EU and African sides with detailed insights into internal working procedures and coordination processes.

European actors: Looking at the European side the authors are concerned about the low commitment of new EU member states. While the old member states are traditionally involved in EU-Africa relations and assumed leading positions in the 8 Thematic Partnerships, new members have stronger linkages with East and Central European and Central Asian countries. Since they can bring in new valuable perspectives it is essential that they find their place in the EU-Africa Partnership.

Although increased coordination efforts can be noted within the European Commission and the Council, the authors still see the danger of overlap with other EU programs including the European Mediterranean Policy and the ACP-EU cooperation.

The authors mention the establishment of the EU Delegation to the African Union and the strengthened role of the EU Special Representative to the AU as remarkable in the institutional development of the Africa-EU Strategy. Through their geographic proximity to the African Union in Addis Ababa they give the EU the opportunity to follow the AU’s development closely.

African actors: Regarding the African side the paper warns that the strong coordinating role of the AU Commission is not met with appropriate financial and human resources. The authors are worried that the EU might overestimate the actual power of the African Union Commission which is by far not a mirror institution of the EU Commission, having less legal competences and a weaker position in the current AU institutional framework.

Furthermore they speak of a very low awareness and commitment regarding the Joint Strategy in all AU member states and the African Regional Communities. Similar to the EU there is a difference in participation between the AU member states with a stronger commitment of the North-African countries, currently assuming all but one of the leading positions in the 8 Thematic Partnerships. The lacking commitment of Southern African countries might hamper the ‘Africa as one’ objective of the Joint Strategy.

Civil society and parliaments: Regarding the envisioned involvement of other stakeholders, in particular parliaments and civil society organizations, the paper draws a rather gloomy picture. Both stakeholders are so far sidelined by the institutional actors in the EU and the AU alike. The modalities and level of their involvement differ in every Thematic Partnership but are generally not clear. Furthermore adequate funding to ensure full participation of CSOs is lacking.

Issues for 2009: Looking ahead, several aspects need to be addressed:

• increase the financial commitment towards the Joint Strategy in Europe and Africa
• ensure coherence with other policy frameworks, mainly the European Mediterranean Policy and ACP-EU cooperation
• deal with capacity and legal asymmetries between the European and African stakeholders
• deal with the past of the European and African integration process (i.e. ongoing African Government Debate and the ratification process of the Lisbon Treaty)
• extend ownership of the Strategy beyond the Brussels-Addis axis
• ensure participation of CSOs and parliaments.

The authors highlight that the full commitment of all EU and AU member states is crucial for the success of the Joint Strategy. However, they note that member states on both sides tend to wait with further involvement until the Strategy delivers results and shows added-value compared to existing policy frameworks. On the other side the authors predict that such progress can only be made if all stakeholders including the member states are on board. Strong leadership and commitment are essential in order to escape this ‘chicken or egg’ conundrum.

by Martin Behrens

Visit the ECDPM Europafrica.org for more information and documents regarding the Africa-EU Strategy See also the Euforic newsfeed and dossier on EU-Africa relations

 

Civil Society: One year of Africa-EU Partnership

First published on the Euforic Blog

A year after the Africa- Europe Strategic Partnership Agreement was signed with great expectations, actors in development take stock. The Joint Strategy was launched in December 2007 during the Lisbon Summit of the Portuguese EU-Presidency. Its aim was multifaceted cooperation between equal partners. A 3-year Action Plan was adopted as well including objectives to carry out until the next summit which is planned for 2010.

A report (pdf-file) by Coordination Sud, Terre des Hommes and Secours Catholique looks at the role of Civil Society within the implementation of the partnership Action Plan. It shows that participation of Civil Society actors in Europe made some progress, although the level of involvement differs significantly within different activity areas.

Additionally the authors look at the implementation within the different policy areas which range from Peace and Security, Governance or Migration to Science or Energy. Hereby the report criticizes among other aspects the use of EDF funds for non-development related issues like security and migration. Furthermore the authors lament that the whole working programme is strongly driven by European interests.

Regarding this, there is the expectation that the EU-ACP Cotonou Partnership Agreement which is due for a revision this year might also be influenced by the new ’spirit’ of the EU-Africa Partnership. See also a recent summary of the European Parliament’s Draft Report: ‘One year after Lisbon: The Africa-EU partnership at work’ (pdf-file), on ECDPM’s Europafrica.org.

Here, you also find additional information and documents on the EU-Africa Strategic Partnership.

See also the Euforic newsfeed and dossier on EU-Africa cooperation.

 

Africa-Europe Partnership portal becomes interactive

First published on the Euforic Blog

The official website of the Africa- Europe Partnership, lunched earlier this year, is becoming more interactive. The portal aims to document the progress of the EU-Africa cooperation and strives to bring civil society organizations, experts and decision-makers together in order to create a forum for debate about the future of the strategic partnership.

Comments are invited on a blog from the partnership – the current posting is about the involvement of civil society actors in the implementation process of the partnership.

See also Euforic’s Europe-Africa newsfeed and dossier ; also the europafrica portal hosted by ECDPM.