Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-148"
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"en.20000411.6.2-148"2
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"Mr President, after months of endless squabbling about agendas and participants, the Cairo Summit did take place eventually. Only to establish what all of us have known for a long time, namely that the majority of the African population still live in abject poverty and are weighed down by a heavy burden of debt. There is no doubt that the many informal contacts which the Summit created have been useful. But I do wonder in all honesty if there can be talk of a Euro-African Summit if civil society is banished to Lisbon and neither the European Parliament nor the ACP-EU Assembly are in any way involved in the Summit.
The European Council gave in to the demand of African dictators not to admit any parliaments to the Summit. But how much more credible would words such as democracy and the interest of the people have been if those people had actually been represented. In that sense, Cairo was not a Euro-African Summit but more like a summit of élites. With his statement that Africa does not need democracy but water pumps, Colonel Gaddafi has undoubtedly put into words what many of his fellow dictators think.
It is evident that our political models cannot simply be transplanted. Africa has to find meaning for the notion of democracy itself. But fundamental principles, sound leadership, separation of powers, free and fair elections and respect for human rights are not negotiable. The European Union’s reaction to violations of these principles is sometimes feeble and often divided. Take Zimbabwe, for example, where political opponents are being attacked in the run-up to the elections and white farmers are being threatened and illegally evicted from their own land and where Mugabe provokes violence. What other messages does the Commission need in order to suspend development aid?
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last Saturday, Kofi Annan reproached the African leaders with greed, megalomania and failure to create better living conditions in their countries. Against the background of Kofi Annan’s words, the question arises as to whether the people do not consider the organising of solemn rituals such as those in Cairo as a conspiracy among élites. The international community should not be tricked into feelings of guilt by the African leaders who do not carry any democratic legitimacy. It is high time that the European Union told the African dictators where their responsibility lies."@en1
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