The European union's development policy toward Africa

Résumé du document

On December 8th and 9th 2007 the summit of African and European leaders has hold in Lisbon. It is the second ever Summit between heads of states and governments from EU and Africa after the Cairo Summit in 2000. The 52 countries of the African Union, the 27 European member states, and the kingdom of Morocco attended it last week-end to settle a new Euro-African agreement in a summit that is both addressing the issues of trade, debt, political issues, peace building and conflict prevention, and development. We will especially focus on this last issue. The today's EU is the first trade power in the world. It owns one quarter of the world wealth and, furthermore, is in first place in the world, as far as public development aid to poor countries is concerned. Today's Africa is often quoted as the last poor continent in the world. It is constituted with 53 countries which present very various states of development.

Extraits

[...] The EU finds interests in African integration economy. First, because it gives it a new role in international trade organisations; secondly because it brings economic advantages to itself. This EU policy is led by a will of gradual liberalization of both Africa and European Union, and by the settle of free-trade-zones in these areas. Then, it could be argued (and that is what most International Organizations did) that the European development policy toward Africa is more a way of furthering African integration into a Euro-African market than into a world market (which could be more efficient regarding globalization). [...]

[...] The EU no longer negotiates with states but with a regional organisation. What is more, the new trade measures concerning Africa are taking the WTO reproaches into consideration for the first time. The Lisbon summit sets up indeed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) concluded during the Cotonou Agreement. The development objectives of the Lisbon Summit reveal the EU's will to distinguish from the approach of the IMF and the World Bank, even with pursuing goals of the eight MDGs (Millenniums Development Goals). [...]

[...] Kingah European Union's New Africa Strategy: Grounds for Cautious Optimism.” In European Foreign Affairs vol.11 (winter 2006) - http://www.ecdpm.org/ - Félix Nkundabagenzi et Federico Santopinto, Le développement : une arme de paix. Bruxelles - (Sous la direction de) Marie-Françoise Labouz. Le partenariat de l'Union Européenne avec les pays tiers : conflits et convergences. Ed. Bruylant, Bruxelles - Christopher Hill and Michael Smith: International relations and the European Union, Oxford University Press - Corinne Balleix, La politique de coopération au développement. [...]

[...] The European Union's development policy toward Africa On December 8th and 9th 2007 the summit of African and European leaders has hold in Lisbon. It is the second ever Summit between heads of states and governments from EU and Africa after the Cairo Summit in 2000. The 52 countries of the African Union, the 27 European member states, and the kingdom of Morocco attended it last week-end to settle a new Euro-African agreement in a summit that is both addressing the issues of trade, debt, political issues, peace building and conflict prevention, and development. [...]

[...] The Lomé conventions were mainly the set up of an asymmetrical free trade area and Development and cooperation policies through the STABEX and MINEX schemes. Finally the Cotonou Agreement in 2000 added to the Lomé Agreements an encouragement of “smooth and gradual integration of the ACP countries into the world economy” Evolutions of the EU/ACP relationship have highlighted an encouragement of gradual integration of ACP countries into the world economy According to the EU's commission, the goal of the EU is to further the African development, mainly in order to integrate ACP countries, and especially Africa into the world Economy. [...]