Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-335"
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"en.20040113.15.2-335"2
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".
Madam President, the Commission welcomes Parliament’s support for NEPAD and for the African Union.
I will conclude by saying that Mr Bébéar's report and the debate here today are welcome contributions to this discussion.
The new pan-African reality born with NEPAD and the African Union deserves our special attention and full support. We must not lose the momentum created by recent major changes in Africa, whose leaders took the initiative to extricate the continent from poverty and marginalisation, with ownership as a guiding principle. In fact, those whom I often call the heroes of NEPAD could be said to have demonstrated that ownership is something you take; it is not something you are given. This has been the real inspiration of the entire initiative. The Commission is committed to supporting pan-African initiatives. We are in the process of building structured relations with the African Union and NEPAD institutions.
The European Commission remains strongly committed to supporting NEPAD and the priorities and objectives of the African Union. The presence of President Prodi at the African Union Summit in Maputo in July 2003 and the development of the dialogue between our Commission and new pan-African structures demonstrate that stance. The fact that their administrative and executive arm is called the African Commission is a pleasing comment on what we represent in Europe, and certainly we are in the business of launching assistance for initiatives at continental level to demonstrate this close working relationship.
Numerous political contacts to date between the European Commission and the African Union Commission have been preparing the ground for launching a strategic, structured dialogue between the two bodies. In tandem, a regular dialogue is being developed with the NEPAD Secretariat. The establishment of other pan-African institutions, including the Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African Parliament, affords new prospects for dialogue between the European Union and Africa as a whole. The other week the process of ratifying the Peace and Security Council Protocol in African Union Member States reached the point where this institution is now being formally launched. We look forward to the same development very soon as regards the Pan-African Parliament.
At the same time, the European Community is providing tangible support for pan-African initiatives. Peace and security is of special importance here: it is a prerequisite for all development. The establishment of a peace facility to back African-owned and African-led peace-building actions will mark a breakthrough. Leadership by the African Union in this area has been essential and still is.
I will dwell a little on the establishment of the peace facility. Following the request by the African Heads of State in Maputo in July 2003 that part of their national allocations be 'shaved off' to establish a peace facility, the Commission proceeded quickly. After intensive discussions with the EU Council and our ACP partners, they both gave the go-ahead for the facility. We are now entering a more operational phase in which we are preparing a specific financing proposal for 250 million euros; it is planned to be submitted to the next meeting of the EDF Committee. This is therefore moving forward.
Three fundamental principles underpin the philosophy of the peace facility. Firstly, ownership is to strengthen the capacity of the African people to deal with African conflicts. We hope the facility will provide the necessary financial 'muscle' to accompany the political resolve of the African Union and consolidate the continental architecture it has designed with the Peace and Security Council as its key institution. Secondly, there is to be solidarity through financial contributions from all African countries. Thirdly, there is development, it being acknowledged that without peace and stability there can be no development in Africa.
We want to develop an appropriate response to the new pan-African context. We – the European Union – still face the challenge of treating Africa as one entity. Our assistance to the continent as a whole should be set in a coherent framework. This calls, inter alia, for action to ensure that our national and regional cooperation programmes are consistent with NEPAD and African Union priorities and objectives. This process is in the hands of our African partners, and the Commission will make sure in the months ahead that it is reflected in our 'mid-term reviews' under the Cotonou Agreement and with regard to the other country strategies relevant for the rest of Africa.
The Commission put forward concrete proposals in its communication on EU-Africa dialogue last July to build bridges between the various agreements linking the European Union and Africa. That communication aimed to promote a substantive discussion on the most promising avenues and future practical arrangements for EU-Africa dialogue and cooperation."@en1
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