12 EU STRATEGY FOR AFRICA
(26918)
13293/05
COM(05) 489
+ ADD1
| Commission Communication: "EU Strategy for Africa: Towards a Euro-African Pact to Accelerate Africa's development"
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Department | International Development
|
| Basis of consideration |
Minister's letter of 9 January 2006 |
| Previous Committee Reports
| HC 34-i (2005-06), para 4 (4 July 2005), HC 34-v (2005-06), paras 3 and 4 (12 October 2005), HC 34-vii (2005-06), para 3 (26 October 2005) and HC 34-xii (2005-06), para 9 (30 November 2005)
|
| Discussed in Council | 13 December 2005 General Affairs and External Relations Council and 15-16 December 2005 European Council
|
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
|
| Committee's decision | Cleared on 30 November 2005; further information requested
|
Background
12.1 The June 2005 European Council called for "the Council
to draw up a long-term global strategy towards Africa in the light
of the UN Summit with a view to the European Council in December 2005".
The Commission's Communication is a core part of this strategy,
aiming to give the EU a comprehensive, integrated and long-term
framework for its relations with the African continent and, above
all, to promote achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.[35]
The Commission Communication
12.2 When we considered the Communication on 26 October,[36]
we noted a number of major uncertainties to which the Secretary
of State (Hilary Benn) referred but upon which he did not dilate,
which in turn suggested there was still a good deal to be done
between then and mid-December, with consultation with other Member
States, MEPs and civil society having only recently begun.
12.3 When we considered the Communication again on
30 November 2005,[37]
it was clear that, driven by a pithy Presidency paper that was
itself underpinned by a paper from the Secretary General/High
Representatives on the contribution that Common Foreign and Security
Policy (CFSP) and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP)
can bring to the overall EU strategy, the process was moving forward
constructively. But the extent to which these two documents, along
with the Commission Communication, would be integrated into the
final Africa Strategy remained unclear.
A number of further questions inevitably arose.
How would the Africa Strategy relate to the revised European Consensus
for Development, which we considered elsewhere in our 30 November
2005 Report.[38] What
more would the Strategy do towards the achievement of its main
objective — attainment of the Millennium Development Goals
— given the work of other international organisations, and
particularly the proposals that would presumably emanate from
the UN Secretary-General's initiative on UN/AU collaboration?
How would the financing of these various initiatives be distributed
between the EDF, the Africa Peace Facility, the EU's budget and
Member States' contributions? Just how would the EU not only provide
resources but also bring pressure to bear on the African Union
and partner governments to deliver on the fundamentals of good
governance and economic reform?
12.4 The importance of getting the Strategy right
was indicated by the fact that in 2003 the EU's development aid
to Africa was €15 billion, and is due to rise substantially.
Given the context and the number of uncertainties, we asked the
Secretary of State for clarification and to let us know the outcome
of the 15-16 December European Council at which it was envisaged
that a final Strategy would be adopted; and cleared the document
under scrutiny.
12.5 He has now done so in letter of 9 January 2006,
with which he enclosed a copy of the final Strategy agreed at
the European Council on 15 December (reproduced at Annex 1 for
ease of reference).
The Secretary of State's letter
12.6 The Secretary of State for International Development
(Hilary Benn) says:
"First you ask how the EU Strategy for Africa
relates to the revised European Consensus for Development. The
European Consensus for Development provides guidance for EC development
assistance across all developing countries, and a focus for EU
Member States' activities on development. The Africa strategy
provides an overarching set of priorities for the EC and EU's
work in Africa including, but not limited to, development assistance.
Every effort has been made to ensure the development aspects of
the Africa strategy are consistent with the Consensus.
"You query how the financing of the initiatives
will be distributed between the European Development Fund (EDF),
the Africa Peace Facility, the EU's budget and Member State contributions.
The EU has committed to increase its development assistance to
developing countries to 0.56% by 2010, with the aim of 15 Member
States reaching 0.7% by 2015. It was agreed that half of this
increase would go to support Africa. Funding of the strategy will
therefore come from both Member State development budgets as they
increase their funding in response to this commitment, and from
the EC, once decisions have been made on the details of the overall
budget and the 10th EDF. There will not be a detailed breakdown
in advance since contributions from individual Member States will
need to follow their own procedures. The future Austrian and Finnish
Presidencies will put forward detailed proposals on follow up
to the Strategy, which we expect will consider financing needs
and sources of funding.
"You asked how the strategy would further
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) given the
work of other international organisations, and raise in particular
UN/African Union (AU) collaboration. The starting point of the
strategy is support for the analysis in the Commission for Africa
report, the Gleneagles Summit outcome and the Declaration made
at the UN Millennium Review Summit. All of these focused on accelerating
progress towards the MDGs in Africa. The Strategy will support
implementation of the approaches agreed at those meetings, as
well as the specific commitments made by the EU. There has been
strong agreement during 2005 on the need for additional efforts
to support peace and security, better governance, growth and human
development in Africa, underpinned by additional resources, greater
market access and more effective collaboration among donors. The
Strategy recognises that there needs to be strong partnership
between the EU, UN and African Union to achieve these aims.
"Finally you query how the EU will bring
pressure to bear on the African Union and partner governments
to deliver on the fundamentals of good governance and economic
reform. The Strategy reinforces the EU's position that continued
African efforts to strengthen governance and tackle corruption
are essential, including specific support for the Africa Peer
Review Mechanism. The EU will continue to discuss these issues
with the African Union as part of our regular dialogue. Improved
governance, including improved public financial management, is
also central to EU work at country level in Africa".
Conclusion
12.7 During last Autumn, we considered a large
number of development assistance-related documents, the main policy
ones being eventually debated in the European Standing Committee
— on the EC and EU contribution to tackling the so-called
"poverty diseases" (HIV/Aids, malaria and TB); the UN
Millennium Summit in November; the proposed new instruments for
external assistance; and the EU's revised Development Policy Statement.[39]
A major common theme is dramatically increasing the effectiveness
of, in particular, EC aid — which, with Member States' bilateral
aid, is over 50% of global development assistance. To do this
means dramatically improving the effectiveness of the EU's activities
in Africa.
12.8 Hence the importance of the Africa Strategy.
Even a superficial examination of Annex 1 reveals the breadth
and depth of its ambitions. The question now is: to what extent
are these vital but ambitious aims likely to be achieved? Effective
implementation will demand an unprecedented level and effectiveness
of cooperation between Member States and the Commission, and between
them and the UN, the AU, the IFIs and other bilateral donors.
It will pose unprecedented challenges for European Security and
Defence Policy. It will require an unprecedented level of commitment
and delivery on the part of African partners. Above all, it will
require the EU to "put its money where its mouth is".
All in all, it is a major enterprise by any standards.
12.9 It is unclear whether any of the follow-up
work will be such as to require scrutiny by this Committee, at
least ahead of the first formal review by the December 2006 European
Council envisaged in the Strategy (which we envisage will be prepared
by the November 2006 "Development" General Affairs and
External Relations Council, in connection with which there will
no doubt be a Commission document of some sort and an Explanatory
Memorandum from the Government). However, before then, Sub-Committee
C (Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Policy) of the House
of Lords' European Union Committee will be producing a report
on the Strategy, based on the questions set out in its Call for
Evidence (see Annex 2). This will inevitably generate a great
deal of valuable information, analysis and assessment, which we
are sure will be of interest to our colleagues on the International
Development Committee, as well as to ourselves.
12.10 We also understand that, in this connection,
the Secretary of State will be sending periodic reports to the
Lords' Committee on implementation of the Gleneagles commitments.
If so, we presume that they will, as is customary, be copied to
us. We suggest that it would also be helpful if he were to copy
them to our colleagues on the International Development Committee.
35 The eight goals UN Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) are those that, in 2000, the UN set itself to achieve,
most by 2015: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal
primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality;
improve maternal health; combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases;
ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a partnership
for development - each with associated targets and benchmarks
to measure progress. Back
36
See headnote. Back
37
See headnote. Back
38
See headnote; para 8. Back
39
Stg Co Deb European Standing Committee (19 July 2005),
Stg Co Deb European Standing Committee (10 November 2005),
Stg Co Deb European Standing Committee (3 November 2005),
Stg Co Deb European Standing Committee (17 November 2005).
Back
|
