Tripoli Declaration / 3rd Africa EU Summit

 

 

 

 

Tripoli Declaration / 3rd Africa EU Summit

 

 

TRIPOLI, Libya, December 1, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — 3rd Africa EU Summit

 

We, Heads of State and Governments of Africa and the European Union, representing

more than 1.5 billion citizens have gathered in Tripoli on 29 – 30 November 2010

determined to seize together new opportunities for broader and mutually beneficial

initiatives.

The Partnership between Africa and the European Union is one of the most enduring

global relationships and is of strategic significance to both sides. We will continue the

work launched at the Cairo Summit in 2000 and Lisbon Summit in 2007, where we

decided to put our relations on a new, equal and strategic level. We confirm the Joint

Africa –EU Strategy as the framework for our future cooperation and adopt the Action

Plan 2011 – 13 as our new commitment to the realisation of this Partnership.

With many states celebrating fifty years of independence, Africa is more than ever on the

eve of a fundamental evolution offering new opportunities and perspectives towards

enhanced integration and improved sustainable development, within the framework of the

African Union that aspires for a united, peaceful and prosperous continent. At the same

time, the Treaty of Lisbon marks a new phase for the European Union. Both

developments further enhance and strengthen the Africa –EU partnership.

Since we met 3 years ago, the world has undergone an accelerated process of

globalisation and faced an unprecedented financial and economic crisis. This requires our

Partnership to be more responsive and to take an increasing part in the reform of the

global governance system, including availing wider opportunity for Africa and the EU to be

fairly represented. Our partnership should guide the transformations the world needs:

tackle the effects of climate change, conflict prevention, good governance, achieve a

sustainable energy market including investment particularly in renewable energy

resources, develop infrastructure, provide food security, achieve the Millennium

Development Goals, combat HIV/AIDS, address the realities and challenges of migration

and its links to development, as well as to promote gender equality. We step-up our joint

efforts especially in encouraging investment growth, creating employment and work for

the young generations entering the labour market, notably in Africa.

Spreading the success of entrepreneurship, we are committed to promoting the private

sector as a key driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and an important

actor in providing for more equal and balanced development. To flourish, this private

investment needs, a transparent and well–governed business environment, partnerships

with the public sector, better productivity, social protection of workers both in formal and

2

informal economies, together with reinforced efforts of education and technology transfer

in order to promote a knowledge based Society. We recognize the equally important

dimension of regional integration for growth and development and commit to conclude

Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that support socio-economic development,

regional integration and the integration of Africa into the global economy.

Mindful of the additional efforts needed to reach the Millennium Development Goals in

Africa by 2015, we will reinvigorate our concerted efforts to address all MDG targets,

taking account of those countries and targets most off track and paying particular

attention to the most vulnerable and marginalised people. We consider that all available

financing for development, both domestic and external, traditional as well as innovative,

need to support sustainable economic growth and employment in Africa which are key for

achieving the MDGs.

2010 being the African year of peace and security, we attach utmost importance to all

efforts of conflict prevention, reconciliation, justice and post conflict reconstruction and

development for the sake of people undergoing conflict. As the international community

marks the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, both sides and

stressed the role of women in efforts to achieve sustainable peace and security. Peace

and security remain a cornerstone of our cooperation. We are committed to making the

African Peace and Security Architecture fully operational in close collaboration with the

regional organizations. As regards AU lead Peace operations, it was agreed to work

towards ensuring flexible, predictable and sustainable funding.

We will continue our concerted efforts to bring the Somali conflict to an end, to stabilize

the internal situation and to promote timely post-conflict reconstruction and development

efforts. To these ends, we will continue working together in support of a strengthened

AMISOM, as well as of the Somali Security Forces, extending support to the TFG in the

framework of a reinvigorated comprehensive political strategy. On Sudan, we emphasise

the urgency and importance of ensuring that all elements of the CPA, including those

concerning Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, are implemented in a timely, peaceful

and credible manner, in particular the referendum on South Sudan whose results should

be accepted by all. Furthermore, we encourage all parties to progress with the post

referendum issues. In this context, we welcome the leadership of the AU in close

cooperation with the UN as well as the support provided by the AUHIP led by President

Mbeki, and by IGAD. We welcome in particular the progress made and agreements

reached on the framework regarding outstanding CPA issues.

Our cooperation will continue to build on our common values and goals in pursuit of good

governance, democracy and the rule of law. We firmly condemn all unconstitutional

changes of governments which, alongside bad governance, are one of the main causes of

instability. We are united in the fight against impunity at national and international level

and the protection of human rights on both continents. We emphasize the need to

strengthen national legal systems and the international cooperation in the pursuit of

justice, peace and reconciliation, including the prosecution of the most serious crimes of

concern to the international community, taking into cognizance the positions of the African

3

and the European Union. We condemn all forms of terrorism and will cooperate closely in

addressing this international threat and its various sources of financing. We also condemn

intolerance in all its forms and will address this phenomenon as well as cooperate closely,

including in the UN, in addressing trans-national threats of, inter-alia, piracy, dumping of

toxic waste, organized crime and illegal trafficking, including human trafficking. We jointly

agree to address Maritime security challenges of particular concern to both continents

including pollution of seas and oceans.

Africa and the EU will work together to ensure more effective participation and improved

cooperation in international bodies, including the United Nations General Assembly, and

the G20. We will further strengthen our high level political dialogue aiming at a better

coordinated approach and joint positions in international negotiations. We emphasize the

importance of an effective multilateralism and reaffirm our determination to ensure that

multilateral institutions are the main fora for international cooperation on peace and

security, human rights and democracy and on global governance. In this context, we

recognize the need to pursue the reform of the main UN bodies with a view to making the

overall UN system more effective and transparent and which should be reflective of the

substantial changes the international community and UN membership have undergone.

We welcome the results of the numerous side-events which have contributed to the

success of this Summit and which demonstrate the dynamics of our Strategic Partnership

and the effective involvement of a broad range of stakeholders. We also take careful note

of recommendations from these events.

We positively note that the EU accounts for more than a half of global ODA and reaffirms

its commitment to increasing its aid spending to reach the collective target of 0.7% of

Gross National Income by 2015. We also welcome, based on the average flow of EU

ODA for Africa per year, both by Member States and the EU, and following existing

commitments for the period of the next three years, that more than € 50 billion of ODA will

be made available to support the overall objective of this Partnership.

We express our gratitude to the Leader of the Revolution and people of the Great

Socialist Peoples’ Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the care, hospitality and attention extended

to the participants of this Summit.

We decide to reconvene in Brussels in 2013.

 

SOURCE 

European Council