19 EU-AFRICA TRANSPORT COOPERATION
(30795)
11965/09
COM(09) 301
| Commission Communication: Partnership between the European Union and Africa Connecting Africa and Europe: Working Towards Strengthening Transport Cooperation
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| Legal base | —
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| Document originated | 24 June 2009
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| Deposited in Parliament |
16 July 2009 |
| Department | International Development
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| Basis of consideration |
EM of 29 July 2009 |
| Previous Committee Report |
None; but see (30069) 14632/08: HC 16-xxxvi (2007-08), chapter 14 (26 November 2008) and (27705) 11682/06: HC 41-iv (2006-07) chapter 9 (14 December 2006)
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| To be discussed in Council
| To be determined |
| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
19.1 The 2007 Africa-EU Strategic Partnership follows on from
the 2005 EU-Africa Strategy, with the objective of "more
coherent and effective aid from the EU and from individual member
countries" and purpose of giving "the EU, as a whole,
a comprehensive, integrated and long-term framework for its relations
with the African continent."[68]
It identifies strategic priorities in areas such as peace and
security, democratic governance and human rights, trade and regional
integration and other key development issues. To implement the
commitments made in the Joint Strategy, the EU and Africa undertook
to address and advance all identified objectives on all the strategic
priorities, with a wider view of supporting African countries
in their efforts to attain all the Millennium Development Goals
by the year 2015. The new Partnership was debated in European
Committee on 23 October 2007.[69]
19.2 Special attention is paid to a number of selected
priority actions in the initial period 2008-2010 in the context
of specific "Africa-EU Partnerships" on
subjects of common interest, which focus in particular on actions
at the global, continental or regional level, with a clear comparative
advantage as compared to cooperation at the national level, where
the participating actors have a collective capacity to deliver.
19.3 Each of these "Africa-EU Partnerships"
is open for a wide range of actors, which could include the European
and AU Commissions, EU and AU Ministerial Councils, the EU Council
Secretariat, EU Member States and African States, EU and African
Parliaments, local and decentralised authorities, EU and African
civil society actors, African sub-regional organisations, research
institutions, international organisations or institutions and
the private sector.
19.4 Actions under each of these "EU Africa
Partnerships" will be financed out of existing or new financial
resources, which could include, where appropriate, the 10th
European Development Fund (EDF) and its facilities and trust funds,
the relevant EU budgetary instruments (European Neighbourhood
Policy Instrument-ENPI, Development Cooperation Instrument-DCI)
and the geographical and thematic programmes deriving from these,
bilateral contributions from both African or EU States, contributions
from interested third states, international financing institutions,
international organisations and civil society groups as well as
private sector investments.[70]
19.5 Within this context, the development of infrastructure
is seen as a crosscutting priority, based on the implementation
of the EU-Africa Infrastructure Partnership (EAIP), which was
launched in Addis Ababa on 24 October 2007.[71]
The Commission Communication
19.6 Against this background, the Commission Communication
aims to deepen work under the EU Africa Infrastructure Partnership
through strengthening EU work with African organisations and governments
on transport. The scope includes transport within Africa, including
road, rail, air, maritime and urban mass transport, as well as
transport links between Europe and Africa.
19.7 The Communication proposes:
— establishment,
at the 2009 Trans-European Transport Network conference, of an
informal EU-African transport forum. This forum would meet twice-yearly
to debate transport issues among key stakeholders;
— an EU-Africa joint declaration which
would include a priority action plan and would require identification
of financing for the action plan;
— a review of progress in implementing
the action plan as part of the EU-Africa Summit in 2010.
19.8 The Communication suggests how EU-African cooperation
on transport could be strengthened in a number of areas :
— Transport
Networks and Corridors.
The development of Trans-European Networks (TEN) in transport,
energy and information technology has been an important EU programme,
involving complex coordination between countries on major infrastructure
investments. The EU has used high level "coordinators"
to drive projects and proposes to evaluate, with the AU, the appropriateness
of using the same approach in Africa. The EU-AU propose a joint
seminar to share EU experience of using the TEN planning methodology.
— Euro-African Transport Network.
The Communication suggests joint planning on where EU and African
transport networks connect.
— Air Transport. The Communication
highlights a need to improve air safety and security and to update
economic regulation. It sees the reorganisation of African
airspace and air routes as essential to accommodating the increase
in air traffic in a safe, efficient and sustainable way. The extension
of the Single European Sky model and its allied technological
project, SESAR, is seen as a possible way forward.
19.9 The Communication also makes proposals for more
EU-Africa collaboration on maritime transport, road safety and
urban transport.
The Government's view
19.10 the Minister of State at the Department for
International Development (Mr Gareth Thomas) welcomes the Commission
proposals on Transport Networks and Corridors, suggesting
that EU transport network experience "could bring valuable
lessons to African infrastructure planning." Transport facilitation
along Africa's cross-border transport arteries should "boost
trade, regional integration, economic growth and poverty reduction",
which the Minister sees as "the justification for HMG's successful
support for the North South Corridor connecting Southern and Eastern
Africa." The Communication "rightly recognises the need
to plan and manage corridor transport across the range of transport
means."
19.11 On Air Transport, the Minister says
"the Department for Transport recognises
the Commission's concerns and will continue to encourage progress
in these areas. The UK has always supported the Single European
Sky and SESAR and the realisation of a safe, sustainable and efficient
European air traffic management system (ATM). Whilst supporting
global air traffic compatibility and EU cooperation with neighbouring
States, the first priority must be full implementation of Single
European Sky/SESAR and the realisation of its benefits to the
European ATM system."
19.12 The Minister also welcomes "the statement
of intent that the EU should continue to liaise on transport with
European and international financial institutions, particularly
the World Bank and African Development Bank", whom he describes
as "major investors in African transport infrastructure."
He regards it as "especially important for the EU to liaise
with other, non-EU, financiers on cross-border transport corridors
because the scale of these projects typically requires financing
from several sources, and their complexity makes good collaboration
essential", and says that "DFID will promote EU (and
AU) collaboration with non-EU financiers in its ongoing engagement
with key initiatives and partnerships in Africa."
19.13 Finally, the Minister says that , with regard
to the Financial Implications of the Commission's proposals,
that there are no additional costs to the UK and that the measures
outlined in the Communication "would be implemented under
existing cooperation frameworks and existing instruments, particularly
the Cotonou Agreement, the European Development Fund and the neighbourhood
policy."
Conclusion
19.14 The Communication raises no questions, and
is clearly designed as the beginning of a long-term process. We
are nonetheless drawing it to the attention of the House because
of the widespread interest the EU's role in Africa and the inherent
importance of the subject matter to the continent's development.
19.15 We now clear the document.
68 See http://ec.europa.eu/development/geographical/regionscountries/euafrica_en.cfm#partnership
for full information on the Partnership. Back
69
See http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmgeneral/euro/071023/71023s01.htm
for the record of the debate. Also see (30069) 14632/08: HC 16-xxxvi
(2007-08), chapter 14 (26 November 2008) for the Committee's consideration
of the Commission Communication on "One Year after Lisbon:
The Africa-EU Partnership at Work". Back
70
For further information, see http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/EAS2007_action_plan_2008_2010_en.pdf
Back
71
See http://www.africa-union.org/root/AU/Conferences/2007/october/IE/EU/fdocs/JOINT%20DECLARARTION%20-%20ENGLISH.doc
for the text of the Joint AU Commission/European Commission Declaration
launching the Partnership. Also see (27705) 11682/06: HC 41-iv
(2006-07) chapter 9 (14 December 2006) for the Committee's consideration
of the EAIP. Back
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