MEETING BETWEEN AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE AND THE EU ON THE NEW AFRICAN INITIATIVE

Brussels October 10, 2001

COMMON STATEMENT

Today, the EU Presidency, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the European Commission had an extensive and very fruitful meeting with the Chairman of the African Union and the Heads of State of South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Algeria and the representative of the Head of State of Egypt on the New African Initiative.

The European side declared themselves impressed by the strong political will of the African leaders to further peace, stability, democracy and development on the African continent, by the strong personal commitment and involvement of the African leaders to insure the success of the New African Initiative and by their candour in recognising the challenges ahead.

The European side also stressed the importance they attach to developing further the EU partnership with the African continent, as expressed in the work programme of the current Belgian EU Presidency.

Both sides had an open and constructive exchange of views on the objectives, priorities, perspectives and institutional framework of the initiative and the possible links with existing development and co-operation efforts between the EU and Africa.

The European side expressed strong support for the New African Initiative and agreed to take it further as:

1. it is an African, home-grown effort to resolve African problems and embodies African ownership. It is guided by the principles of responsibility and ownership.
2. it has clear goals and places a high emphasis on democracy, transparency, good governance, the rule of law and human rights as fundamental factors of development. It puts forward a number of key elements, such as conflict prevention and resolution, the importance of investing in human development, the focus on the fight against corruption, poverty, eradication, the demand for access of African products to world markets, the need to attract foreign investment and to combat hunger and increase food security.
3. it strikes the right balance between good governance, conflict prevention, trade and investment, aid and debt relief.
4. it is a comprehensive and integrated approach of development problems on the whole of the African continent, while at the same time accommodating for regional co-operation.

Both sides indicate their resolve to set up links between the NAI and EU institutional frameworks and develop a regular dialogue on the New African Initiative, as it further takes shape. In this context, both sides agreed:

• to have twice a year a meeting between the New African Initiative Steering Committee and the EU, prepared at expert level;
• to establish a permanent link between the different NAI task forces and the European Commission;
• to establish, immediately, a joint reflection group on the relationship between the New African Initiative and existing development and co-operation efforts such as the Cotonou agreement and the Cairo process;
• to start a pilot project of co-operation in the area of capacity building, more particularly in training at regional level of civil servants;
• to set up a common group on infrastructure, as a priority area for implementation in the framework of the next European Development Fund Programme, taking especially into account regional impacts.

Both sides agreed to further consult on the next WTO round in order to ensure that it addresses squarely the development dimension of trade.

Both sides agreed to relate also to the G8 Task Force, under Canadian Presidency.

Both sides expressed again their strong and unreserved commitment to fight international terrorism and to co-operate in all areas and in all international fora, particularly the UN, to that end.

The EU Presidency and the Commission will report to the EU Member States on the outcome of this meeting, at the next General Affairs and Development Council meetings.

Issued by: Office of the Presidency