Author: Zeng Lu
The 6th EU-African Union Summit released the "Common Vision 2030", which may have an important impact on the future development cooperation between Europe and Africa.
Total words1631About3minutes
From February 17 to 18, the heads of state of 27 member states of the European Union and 40 member states of the African Union held the sixth EU-African Union Summit (AU-EU Summit) in Brussels. The European-African Partnership aims at solidarity, security, peace and sustainable prosperity. The summit released the "2030 Common Vision" aimed at consolidating and renewing the European-African partnership, which may have an important impact on the future development cooperation between Europe and Africa.
What are the key points that both sides pay attention to?
Africa focuses on local production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Africa's new crown vaccination lags far behind the world, so the African Union is committed to localizing the production of new crown vaccines. The African Vaccine Production Partnership Project was launched in April 2021, aiming to achieve local production of 60% vaccines for self-use by 2040. Egypt, Senegal and other countries have joined the project. Africa urgently needs EU support in vaccine research and development, production, technology, and patents.
The EU focuses on green transformation and rebuilding trust. The EU wants to reach an agreement with African countries on cooperation on climate protection and seeks to regain Africa's trust and build an ambitious and forward-looking alliance to promote "lasting prosperity". Before the pandemic, the EU had hoped to cooperate with Africa in areas such as green transition and energy access, digital transformation, sustainable growth and employment, peace, security and good governance, migration and mobility.
What was discussed at the Europe-Africa Summit? Focus on COVID-19 vaccines and public health cooperation.Vaccine cooperation is a weak link in Europe-Africa cooperation. Before the summit, the EU donated less than 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa, which is far from enough to support Africa's 1.4 billion people in responding to the epidemic. At the summit, the EU and member states pledged to increase donated vaccines to 450 million doses by mid-2022 and raise 425 million euros (about 465 million U.S. dollars) to support the delivery, vaccination, medical team training and testing capabilities of the new crown vaccine improve. In addition, the EU will finance support to increase local production capacity for hygiene products in Africa.
Announcing the key results of the "Africa-Europe Investment Plan".The Africa-Europe Investment Plan is the African arm of the EU's new Global Gateway infrastructure strategy. The "Africa-Europe Investment Plan" will provide Africa with 150 billion euros (about 1641 US dollars) of investment in the next seven years, and is committed to supporting Africa's energy, transportation, digital infrastructure, health and education. The plan supports both the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the AU's Agenda 2063, aiming to support African countries in building more diverse, inclusive, sustainable and resilient economies. Funding for the Africa-Europe Investment Program will come from the EU's European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD+), EU member states and private sector investment.
Reaffirm the commitment to multilateralism.European and African leaders reaffirmed their joint support for the rules-based international order with the United Nations at its core and the effectiveness of multilateralism. Based on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 2063 Agenda of the African Union, the two sides will cooperate within the framework of multilateralism to improve the delivery of global public goods to reduce global inequality; provide political support for WTO reform to strengthen the multilateral trading system; And fully implement the "Paris Agreement" and the outcomes of the Conference of the Parties to address and mitigate climate change.
Put aside differences on energy, vaccine intellectual property rights, debt, etc.Africa hopes to continue to develop fossil fuels such as natural gas, and hopes that the European Union will abandon the intellectual property rights of the new crown vaccine and support the redistribution of the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) in favor of Africa. The EU takes a different position on these issues. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has extended until this spring the deadline for the final settlement of exemptions for trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) disputes. Africa's distrust of Europe intensifies or affects the outcome of the summit. The global distribution of new crown vaccines is severely uneven. The 99% vaccine in Africa is imported from abroad, and vaccination lags far behind the world. In order to ensure the local supply of the new crown vaccine, the EU has restricted the export of vaccines, which has affected Africa's trust in the EU. The EU has resisted patent exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and imposed a discriminatory travel ban on Africa following the emergence of Omicron, exacerbating tensions between the two sides over immigration. In addition, the European Union plans to impose a carbon tax on imported products or weaken African exports, thereby affecting Africa's ability to reduce emissions.
What is the significance of the Europe-Africa summit?
Africa's development cooperation is more diverse and equal.In recent years, the African Union has held summits with the United States, Japan, China and other countries. Europe is no longer the only political force providing aid and seeking influence in Africa. The outcome of the Europe-Africa summit will provide Africa with more diversified options for development cooperation. The summit will also contribute to a more equal political and economic partnership between Europe and Africa.
Africa's development cooperation needs are better responded to.The agenda of the summit supports the African Union's "Agenda 2063", focusing on Africa's economic development and sustainable development transformation, in response to Africa's recovery from the epidemic and the need for infrastructure development. The "Africa-Europe Investment Plan" is a positive step to support African regional integration, the development of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the transformation of sustainable development in Africa.
The results of the Europe-Africa summit cover a wide range, and some investment commitments last for a long time. The results of the summit and leverage resources need to be further clarified. Considering that some of the promises of the previous Europe-Africa summits have not been fulfilled, systematic monitoring and evaluation are crucial to measure the actual progress of Europe-Africa development cooperation.
All rights reserved, please indicate the source when citing.
References
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/international-summit/2022/02/17-18/
https://blogs.die-gdi.de/2022/02/23/eu-au-summit/
https://www.chathamhouse.org/publications/the-world-today/2022-02/world-brief-au-eu-summit
Past review
- New Trends of Global Donor Countries in 2021: Development Cooperation in the Era of Pandemic (Europe)
- Deciphering Germany's New International Development Policy
- Assessing the Quality of Official Development Assistance: Insights from the 2021 QuODA Report
- Recapping International Development in 2021
- COVID-19 Likely to Reshape the Multilateral Governance System
