8 th Summit of the African Union (AU): Future of the AU and consequences for the Africa-European relations? 1

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1 8 th Summit of the African Union (AU): Future of the AU and consequences for the Africa-European relations? 1 This editorial aims at giving an overview of the main decisions taken during the African Union Summit on the 30th and 31st of January 2007, especially as far as the institutional future of the African Union and its relations with the European Union are concerned. A Summit with great visibility The Summit gathered 43 African Heads of State the absence of some being caused by the visit to Africa of Chinese President Hu Jintao and Foreign Affairs Ministers and has mobilised the whole international community and the press. Three hundred ninety five journalists were credited for the Summit, a figure well above the previous ones. It is clear that nowadays, holding an African Union Summit is considered as a major event, closely followed by the civil society and by all the partners of the African Union (AU). Civil society, which had not been invited by the Commission of the AU to the preparatory meeting, as it is normally the case, was present in full. Several meetings have been organised during the Summit and representatives of civil society had the occasion to express their points of view. The new Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, wanted to be present, just a month after his nomination. He declared that Darfur is a priority and strongly stressed his determination to work with the AU. Further, it was possible to finalise the Summit the modalities for the implementation of a hybrid AU/UN peace force in Darfur. A Summit of transition which also showed the rising maturity of the African Union The approaching departure from office of President Konaré, the uncertainties surrounding next presidency and the elections of future commissioners at the next Summit in July all cast a shadow of doubt over the whole Summit, regarding the fate of the Commission and of the AU. President Konaré, which was invited by some Heads of State to extend his mandate, confirmed his maturely pondered decision not to represent his candidacy. At this stage, no name has been officially put forward for the succession of President Konaré. The consultations are about to start and candidacies must be presented by the end of March. The upcoming period will be filled with intense consultations between 1 This editorial has been written by Claire Mandouze, Programme Associate, ECDPM. The views expressed in this editorial are those of its author.

2 Heads of State and Ministers, who will meet on three occasions: in Alger for NEPAD, in Pretoria for a workshop on the Union, and in Accra for the next African Union Summit. Several decisions and debates show a more mature affirmation in the governance of the Union: The consensual nomination of Ghana s President, John Kuofor, to succeed to Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo to the AU Presidency for The next African Union Summit of July will then take place in Accra, in order to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of Ghana. The candidacy of Sudan President to the Union Presidency a year ago cast heavy doubts on the credibility of the AU and has been the reason of strong criticisms not only by the international community, but also by the civil society, which fully mobilised. The African diplomacy, even if the risks of division were strong, proved to be mature and collectively efficient, managing to persuade Sudan to withdraw its candidacy. The election of Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Gabon and Nigeria as new members of the Peace and Security Council, at the end of a rigorous and transparent election process: the election of these countries, deeply involved in efforts of mediation and peace-keeping confirmed the essential role of this organ within the AU and the rising responsibility of Africans in the management of their conflict. Reviewing the various conflicts, President Konaré recalled that Africa nowadays is taking its responsibilities and acts in the light of the non-indifference principle or solidary interference. The establishment of an African peace-keeping force in Somalia is an application of this principle. The adoption of the Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance: the adoption of the Charter after several years of discussion represents, beyond all doubts, a major step towards the realisation of the Union s governance agenda 2. This text, essentially based on commitments previously made by Heads of State and on the principles written in the Constitutive Act of the AU, includes a chapter condemning and forbidding unconstitutional changes of government and foresees sanctions. The Charter will have to be ratified by the Member States and will enter into force after 15 ratifications. Moreover, the group of Heads of State in charge of the follow-up of the African Peer Review Mechanism analysed the progress made in the field of governance. The report on South Africa was at the centre of a first exam, as well as the reports on the implementation of the measures taken by the countries which had already undergone evaluation (Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya). Totally, 26 countries volunteered for peer review and the first phase of auto-evaluation of Algeria is coming to an end. At the Smmit all countries have been encouraged to take part to this evaluation process. Finally, and this is a major success of the Summit, the Heads of State undertook a serious debate on the future of the Union and the question of the government of the Union. 2 Decision on the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance Doc. EX.CL/301 (X)

3 The future of the African Union The debate on the future of the African Union had to focus on the analysis of the Report of the Seven (Heads of State) on the governance of the Union, presented at the Extraordinary Council in November Aware of this discussion, President Konaré prepared for the Summit a report on the role of the Commission, stressing the necessity to reinforce its mandate and its means and to review the Commissioners nomination process. The summit was the occasion to re-establish this question at the heart of a very lively debate, following which it was decided to focus the totality of the next Summit on the great debate on the Union s government. Even if the Heads of State and Government reinforced their agreement on the ultimate goal of the Union, namely political and economic integration and the set-up of a government of the Union, it is the rhythm, the phases and the ways to reach this goal that cause division among African countries. Some countries, such as Libya and countries of Western Africa wish to reach this continental integration quickly; whereas other countries Southern Africa including South Africa insist on the need to have efficient pan-african institutions, before committing to further integration. In the meantime, and in order to continue this debate, South Africa proposed to organise, by mid March, a seminar to think about the state of the Union, with the Foreign Affairs Ministers. Despite its very tight schedule, the Accra Summit should allow Heads of State to adopt a roadmap on the pace and the necessary steps for the construction of the African Union, always granting the participation of national parliaments and civil society. Pan-African institutions are still weak Despite a rather satisfying outcome, the general feeling is that pan-african institutions remain weak and experience several malfunctions and relations between the different stakeholders must still be built: The Commission was not able in three and a half years to really improve its capacities and its ways of working. Its institutional reinforcement, which is fundamental in order to make it an executive body, is still a large work in progress, which the next Commission will have to review from scratch. On this issue, the discussion on the Commission budget was long and difficult; Ministers finally agreed on a proposal fixing an overall amount for all institutions of $ millions, 36 of which will have to be guaranteed by the international partners of the AU. The Pan-African Parliament remains at a beginning stage: 2006 has seen the establishment of its different commissions. Its budget still has to be submitted to an external audit on the previous year s expenses. The African Court on Human and People s Rights, whose 12 judges have been named in 2006, was not able to start its functions yet and does not have a headquarter yet (foreseen in Arusha) The establishment of the Economic, Social and Cultural Committee was hit by serious delays. It was therefore asked to Ministers to extend the

4 mandate of the interim committee until the end of the year, in order to allow for proper conditions for the launch of the elections of its local and regional members. A meeting of the Permanent Committee and of the Bureau is scheduled at the end of February in Cairo, in order to set the process in motion again. Finally, the Heads of State were once again unable to agree on the physical integration of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa s Development) into the structures of the AU. The lack of progress and little visibility of NEPAD have also been deplored. A meeting of NEPAD implementation committee, whose presidency should be covered by the Ethiopian Prime Minister after the departure of President Obasanjo, should take place in March in Alger. Two new strategic priorities The issues of Science and Technology and of climate change were for the first time put on the agenda of a Summit of Heads of State as two major challenges for the sustainable socio-economic development of Africa. The experts reminded that Africa is nowadays the Continent most seriously threatened by climate change which is putting in danger all the aspects of its development. They asked African leaders to adopt voluntarist measures and shape their sustainable development strategies to climate changes. The Heads of State reminded the industrialised countries that they have an ecological debt towards Africa. As far as science and technology are concerned, the Summit approved the creation of the Pan-African Intellectual Property Organisation (PAIPO) and the decision to allocate 1% of GDP to research and innovation by Europe Africa Dialogue The construction of the African Union, the establishment of a new level of pan- African governance and the perspective of a continent-wide economic and political integration constitute new data for the relationships between Europe and Africa. After the adoption of a European Strategy for Africa in December 2005, the EU wishes to boost its political dialogue and reinforce its partnership with Africa. Witnessing the Africa-China Summit and the Africa-Latin America Summit in 2006 seems to have increased the willingness of the EU to remove the political obstacles to holding a Europe-Africa Summit, under the Portuguese Presidency, by the end of This Summit should allow the adoption of the Joint EU- Africa Strategy which should establish the political framework for EU-Africa relations in the years to come. For Africa, the Europe-Africa Summit should be the occasion to recast the institutional and political bases of the partnership and to initiate a dialogue on the adoption of the cooperation agreements and of the European cooperation financial instruments. Nowadays, indeed, the agreements and the instruments of the EU in the framework of its relations with Africa are not suitable to support and advise the efforts of continental integration. In this way, the new European Neighbourhood Policy considers northern Africa as being very different to Sub- Saharan Africa and it is thus impossible to guarantee some sort of coherence in policies and cooperation instruments in favour of the construction of the AU. The negotiations of the economic partnership agreements with the regional groups of ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) also showed the limits of political

5 dialogue, as well as the risk that these agreements may slow down the pan- African integration process and the African capacities of sustainable development. During the Summit, the Heads of State adopted a declaration asking the EU to postpone the date to finalise negotiations beyond 2007 as well as to explore the alternatives to partnership agreements. Finally, President Konaré repeatedly questioned the attitude of lecturing partners that impose their own agenda and solutions to Africa, meaning that the question of governance of the aid and partnership rebuilding are nowadays strictly connected. The upcoming months will tell us if Europe is ready to politically commit itself to a reforming process of its cooperation with Africa and to the construction of a real partnership, funded on the principles of respect, equality and mutual responsibility.