Meeting of African Union Commission and European Commission
BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, May 25, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On 31 May/1 June the African Union Commission and the European Commission are convening in Brussels for their annual College-to-College meeting, in the context of the Joint Africa-EU Partnership. The plenary session on 1 June will focus on consolidating democracy, including developments in Northern Africa, and consolidating growth. Thematic sessions will also allow for exchanges of view on political, social, environmental and economic matters. The two colleges will adopt a joint declaration.
The Strategic Partnership between Africa and the EU pursues common objectives beyond the traditional donor-recipient focus, in a dialogue of equal counterparts. The EU is the biggest trading partner for the African continent. In 2009, 36% of total imports to Africa originated in Europe. In support of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and its thematic partnerships, the European Commission has committed €24.4 billion through its various financial instruments for the period 2007-2013.
The programme of the meeting between the two Commissions covers two days and is divided between thematic cluster meetings of Commissioners, bilateral meetings and a plenary session, which takes place in the morning of 1 June. Discussions aim at strengthening the political and technical cooperation between the two institutions, provide fresh impetus to the implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and elements for the future political agenda.
Two key events of this meeting will be broadcast live on Europe by satellite, in English and in French. This means concretely that you can watch these two events live via webstreaming on your computer screen.
- The first event is a briefing given by Klaus Rudischhauser, Director for African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries and General Affairs from the European Commission held on 27 May Brussels. The TIME is 13h Brussels time (tbc). The briefing will inform journalists ahead of the meeting of the priority areas that will be discussed by the two colleges, such as growth, democracy, trade, climate change, but also recent developments in Northern Africa, Ivory Coast or Sudan.
- The second event is the joint final press conference held on 1 June at the European Commission by President Barroso and AU Commission Chairperson Ping.
The TIME is 12h40 Brussels time (tbc).
How to proceed technically?
The live signal of both events can be followed via a webstream on the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/ebs/schedule.cfm .
On 27 May, the European Commission will publish a background document on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. You will be able to find the documents online at http://europa.eu/press_room/index_en.htm.
To facilitate your work we will send you a full package of all updated publications and press releases for the Commission-to-Commission meeting. This second e-mail will also contain information about new video material which illustrates the Africa-EU Partnership and which you can download and use for free in your reporting.
Background on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy
80 Heads of State and Government from Africa and Europe adopted the Africa-EU Joint Strategy in Lisbon in December 2007. Both sides agreed to pursue common interests and strategic objectives together, beyond the traditional donor-recipient focus – the two continents started cooperating as equal partners. The Joint Strategy outlines a long-term shared vision of the future of Africa-EU relations in a globalized world. It goes
Based on this vision and on common principles, the Africa-EU Joint Strategy defines eight specific partnerships:
• Peace and security
• Democratic governance and human rights
• Trade, regional integration and infrastructure
• Millennium development goals (MDGs)
• Energy
• Climate change
• Migration, mobility and employment
• Science, information society and space
In late November 2010, African and EU leaders met again, under the overarching topic “Investment, Economic Growth and Job Creation” to take cooperation between the two continents to a new, more ambitious level. A joint Action Plan 2011-2013 was adopted, including concrete actions to be pursued or launched on the strategic areas and building on accomplishments since 2007.
Recent publications for the press on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy:
Commission press release IP 10/1605 and background MEMO 10/604 on the 3rd Africa-EU Summit, 29 November 2010
Background information on the Partnership and its eight thematic areas can be found at: http://www.africa-eu-partnership.org
Website of the European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm
Website of the African Union Commission: http://www.au.int/en/commission
SOURCE
European Commission
