Two continents’ extend hands ” “

The security knot, economic issues, climate change are among the priorities addressed in the fourth Europe-Africa summit, held in Brussels April 2-3 titled “Investing in people, prosperity and peace”. The announcement was made on the eve of the meeting for the official launch of EUFOR European mission in the Central African Republic: 13 member States will provide troops or logistic support. The initiative will be directed by General Philippe Pontiès, with an expected 6-month mandate. Estimated costs amount to 25.9 million euro for the preparatory phase. Support and transition forces. Philippe Pontiès made known that 800 men will be deployed by the end of May in the capital Bangui, with the mandate of restoring security in the area of the airport, in the third and fifth arrondissement. For the general, the troops, described as a “support and transition force”, will complement the other missions already on site: Misca (African-led) and Sangaris (under French command). A special meeting held at the end of the summit called upon the entire international community to undertake “strong, uninterrupted mobilization” for Central Africa as regard civilians and refugees in neighbouring countries. From this perspective participants highlighted the allocation of 316 million euro, announced during the meeting in Brussels past January 15. Focus on climate and migration. “Stepping up security in both continents”, said European Council president Herman Van Rompuy during the summit’s opening session. He added: “Europe needs Africa”. Inter alia, Van Rompuy mentioned the commitment “to fight climate change”. The issue had already been addressed the day before the summit in a meeting with ministers with responsibilities in those areas, who pledged to adopt, in the conference scheduled to take place in Paris in 2015, a “legally binding agreement” on this subject “bound to be enforced in 2020” at the latest. Also UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, guest of the summit, called upon EU leaders to reduce greenhouses gases “by 40% no later than 2030” and invited the leaders of African countries to reach a common stand in the African Union summit in June. Van Rompuy highlighted, inter alia, the question of migration. The President of the European Council spoke of the need ensure that “migration may benefit both sides”, while Ban Ki-moon underlined the need to respect “universal values”, since while “migration poses political challenges” it is also an opportunity “to step up human development, promote dignified work and step up cross-border cooperation”. Important partnership. Relations between Europe and Africa (notably economic) was another key issue of the summit. Strong divisions mark economic partnership agreements (EPA), proposed by Europe but rejected by a large number of African States, that consider them disadvantageous. Moreover Europe, Van Rompuy pointed out, “is and intends to remain Africa’s most important partner” in terms of “trade, development and investment” also given the increasing presence of Asian economies such as India, Japan and China, whose president Xi Jinping visited Brussels in conjunction with the arrival of numerous African delegations. The partnership between Europe and Africa, said the president of the AU, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, “has gone a long way” since the Cairo summit in the year 2000, when Africa was seen as “a 21st century development challenge”. Today, continued the African speaker, “the continent ranks second for world growth” in economic terms and Europe has contributed to its progress “in many social indicators”. However a set of challenges “need to be met together”, according to Dlamini-Zuma: to invest on “women and youths” is “fundamental” since in the future ageing Europe will have to resort to “African human resources”. Working together also in the field of agriculture is equally important so that Africa “may not only nourish itself” but also “contribute to Europe’s” wellbeing.