CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for relief and development* believes that a complex website and a 3 months process is not a meaningful and respectful way to engage African and European civil society and to ensure real ownership. We urge all actors involved to start serious debate on the future of the EU-Africa relations with governments, parliaments and civil society constituencies.
We would like to put forward some conditions and proposals:
- Time-line – A strategy such as the EU-Africa strategy should be based on in-depth debates and exchanges with all the stakeholders. It is not possible to build up a substantial strategy within such a short time-line. The process to come up with a joint strategy should more time, and therefore we suggest having the strategy in two steps, up to end 2008. The EU-AU Summit foreseen for November 2007 in Lisbon, if it happens, must be a milestone in this process and not an end in itself
- Getting African institutions and civil society involved – The basis of any engagement must be a fair and open process, engaging above all African civil society. Institutions must be willing to reopen and take into account the concerns of the EU and African citizens in developing a shared vision for the future of EU-Africa Relations. To achieve real partnership, the EU must be ready to learn from African experience and analysis.
- Any joint EU Africa strategy should include concrete deliverables on commitments made to African countries, including on increasing development aid, ownership, participation.
-Filling the democratic gap in Europe – It is clear that the ability of the EU to effectively play the role to which it aspires will critically depend on the support it has from Europe’s own citizens. The elaboration of the Africa strategy could provide a timely opportunity to launch broad European and national debates about the future of the relations between Europe and Africa.
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* CONCORD is the confederation representing European NGOs for relief and development at European level. Its 22 national associations and 19 international networks represent over 1600 NGOs supported by millions of European Citizens. CONCORD leads reflection and political actions and regularly engages in dialogue with the European institutions and other civil society organisations.
CONCORD is part of the “Global Call to Action Against Poverty”
Find out more about CONCORD on www.concordeurope.org
