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Europe is calling Africa, Africa is calling Europe: a symposium of African and European bishops is to be held in Rome from 10 to 13 November to discuss issues of communion and solidarity old.agensir.it . Below we present a brief review of relations between the two continents, a responsibility that is also enunciated in the recently signed EU Constitutional Treaty. THE “EXTERNAL ACTION” OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. The main sectors of EU external action towards Africa comprise: common foreign and security policy; foreign trade; cooperation policy; and humanitarian aid. The objectives that the EU pursues in its relations with these developing countries include the consolidation of democracy, the defence of human rights, and socio-economic growth. In presenting the programme for the current semester of the EU Council, Dutch premier JAN PETER BALKENENDE explained in July this year: “In view of the stagnation, if not retrogression of development of a large part of Africa, it is essential that absolute priority be given to the fight against poverty and Aids, the promotion of economic growth and a contribution to the peace and security in this continent”. FROM LOMÉ TO COTONOU… But when did the EU begin to pay attention to Africa? “Relations between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa were among the earliest to be established: the Treaty of Rome in 1957 already made the former colonies and overseas territories of some member states associates of the EEC”. PASCAL FONTAINE, historian at the University of Liege (Belgium), explains that “the process of decolonization begun in the Sixties transformed this link into an association of different type, one between sovereign states. The Cotonou accord concluded in the capital of Benin (after which it is named) in June 2000, marks the beginning of a new phase in EU development policy”. The accord, which substitutes the previous accords signed at Lomé, in Togo, since the Seventies, “links the European Union to the countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific” (the so-called ACP countries). The main objective is to “promote and accelerate the economic, cultural and social development of the ACP states and deepen and diversify their relations in a spirit of reciprocal understanding and solidarity”. The accord makes provision for a financial endowment of 13.5 billion euros for a period of seven years, “a sum to which are added the sums not yet pledged (9.5 billion euros) by the previous budgets of the European Development Fund”. TRADE, DEVELOPMENT AND HUMANITARIAN AID. Among the various spheres of cooperation, the sector of foreign trade should not be forgotten. The aim of such trade is to promote the exchange of goods and services and the reciprocal movements of imports and exports. Specific projects also exist to promote the involvement of African countries in international trade. Between 2001 and 2004 the EU Commission invested 2.8 billion euros in just this field, subdivided into 121 projects. For example, EU support for trade in Kenya has permitted it to triple its agricultural exports to Europe in a few years. There are also micro-projects to promote business start-ups and fair trade. As regards development policy, the contribution of the Union currently represents some 50% of world investments (6 billion euros in 2002). The EU’s relations with Africa are often mediated through regional accords (like that of Cotonou): the interventions comprise aid to achieve food self-sufficiency, boost agricultural activities, curb drought, promote vocational training, and develop communications networks. Another important action plan of the EU in its relations with Africa is its humanitarian aid policy, in the form of emergency relief in the event of natural disasters, famine, epidemics, and post-war reconstruction: such aid is handled by the EU’s humanitarian agency ECHO (European Community Humanitarian Office). SOME STILL UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS IN RELATIONS BETWEEN EU AND AFRICA. On the other hand, some problems still remain outstanding in the overall relations between the EU and Africa. First there is a need to monitor the concrete results of EU interventions in the African continent, and to assess the effectiveness, or not, of EU commercial policy on the development of the poor countries. Second, there is the problem of the excessive protectionism applied by the EU to European agriculture to the detriment of agriculture in the developing countries. Third, there is the problem of the role played by the individual member states of the EU in their relations with Africa, including the question of the reduction of foreign debt.
