The Courier

Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Série Diplomatie africaine, drawing, coloured crayon on paper. ‘Afrique Europe: rêves croisés’.

© European Commission and artist

The 5th ACP Summit, held in Khartoum, December 7–8, 2006, in the midst of negotiations with the EU on Economic Partnership Agreements, reaffirmed the Group’s unity and its support for cooperation with Europe, with a reminder that the development dimension must remain at the heart of future accords.

In several ways, it was no run-of-the-mill meeting. Prior to the summit, some diplomats voiced their embarrassment at it being held several hundred kilometres from the scene of the Darfur tragedy, and in a country whose government was reluctant to see the United Nations take over from the African Union the monitoring of a ceasefire ignored by certain parties.

What is more, something unheard of since the first ACP summit was organised in 1997 in Libreville: the current European Commissioner for Development, Louis Michel, was absent. The European Union and the European Commission were represented at the Khartoum Summit, although at a lower level than usual.
However, participants affirmed the Summit was ‘a success’ in attendance terms. Besides the EU, the Commonwealth, the Arab League, the International Francophone Organisation, the Economic Community of West African States, the International Monetary Fund, the International Migration Office and two ACP-EU institutions (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation and the Centre for the Development of Enterprise) all sent observers, as did the Palestinian Authority, Morocco and Venezuela.

There was strong representation on the ACP side. In addition to the host, President al-Bashir (named Chairman of the ACP Group for a period of two years), and the Mozambican President, Armando Guebuza, whose country staged the previous summit in 2004, six Heads of State attended: Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe), Blaise Compaoré (Burkina-Faso), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi), Ismaël Omar Guelleh (Djibouti), Colonel Ely Ould Mohammed Val (Mauritania) and Faure Gnassingbé (Togo). Gabon was represented by its Vice-President, Dijob Divungi di Ndinge. Ethiopia, Lesotho and Rwanda were represented by their respective Prime Ministers.

Condemnation of the coup d’état in Fiji

In the Summit’s final declaration, which adopted the slogan ‘United for peace, solidarity and sustainable development’, Heads of State and Governments reiterated their “condemnation of genocide, revisionism and denial of genocide, ethnic cleansing and all crimes against humanity”, and called on perpetrators of such crimes to be punished “in accordance with international law”.
The Summit voiced its condemnation of any attempts to seize power “by unconstitutional means” and undertook not to recognise “regimes that result from such situations” – a clear allusion to the ‘coup d’état’ which occurred in Fiji on December 5, 2006. It was moreover condemned by the ACP Council of Ministers the very next day.

Strengthening intra-ACP solidarity

ACP leaders re-affirmed their desire to consolidate the unity and cohesion of the Group through strengthened intra-ACP political dialogue and cooperation at a key moment: when negotiations are being held on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). They are being drawn up to gradually introduce free trade between the EU and the six ACP regions from January 1, 2008. The ACP Heads of State and governments noted “with grave concern”, the stalemate and uncertainty hanging over the ongoing round of Doha negotiations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and drew attention to this having “serious repercussions on EPA negotiations”. There was grave concern voiced too over the “continuing erosion of traditional commercial preferences”, notably the Cotonou Agreement’s Commodity protocols on ACP sugar and banana exports. They requested the release of “adequate resources” to boost competitiveness of these sectors and support economic diversification.

Addressing their partners from the developed world, ACP leaders called for reform of the trading rules including the gradual phasing out of agricultural subsidies and domestic support that distorts production and trade, particularly in the case of cotton. Finally, ACP State representatives considered that negotiations on the opening of public markets as well as on questions of investment and competition, should only start up when their countries were ready to hold them.

Development: Extended cooperation

The Summit welcomed “the commitments made by the EU and its Member States to scale-up their development aid budgets” and to contribute 0.56% of their Gross National Product to Official Development Aid (ODA) by 2010. It also took note of the increase in financial commitments by the EU under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF). The EU’s decision to use direct budgetary support to finance the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals was appreciated, as was the European initiative to formulate cooperation strategies for ACP regions. Inevitably, the question of indebtedness came up once again. “Creditors and debtors must share responsibility for preventing and resolving unsustainable debt situations in a timely and efficient manner”, stated Heads of States and Governments. They reaffirmed the need to restructure international financial bodies, so that developing countries could participate in World Bank and IMF decision-making processes.

Absorbing the consequences of the oil price shock

As for the energy crisis, ACP Leaders insisted on the “urgent need” for the international community to address the effects on costs created by external shocks such as the rise in oil prices, natural disasters – including those resulting from climate change – the fluctuation in prices of staple commodities and erosion of preferences due to trade liberalisation. At the same time, aware of the need to create favourable conditions for growth in foreign direct investment, they declared their commitment to creating conditions to enhance the private sector and the development of an “enabling environment”, underlining the important role that the European Investment Bank (EIB) could play in supporting the private sector.

ACP Leaders called on their partners to help them to adopt suitable policies and measures to resolve food security problems. In the area of social development, ACP leaders said they were determined to implement policies that met the needs of the most vulnerable populations, particularly education and health. The priority of access to drinking water and sanitation was reaffirmed, as was support for the activities of the ACP-EU Water Facility, for which continued financing was requested under the 10th EDF.

The drama surrounding the influx of illegal migrants to the Canary Islands from their countries of origin led the Heads of States and Governments of ACP Countries to call for dialogue with the EU to establish “responsible and fair mechanisms” to deal with the issue, develop the potential of migrants and support the contributions of diasporas towards the development of their countries of origin.

Environmental issues also came into the spotlight. Support for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol was reaffirmed, and ACP leaders reminded the Europeans by underscoring the need to ensure implementation of a decision adopted by ACP-EU Ministers in 2005 to create an ACP-EU Natural Disaster Facility. The tragedy that occurred in Abidjan in August 2006 fresh in the mind, they condemned the transportation and dumping of toxic waste in ACP regions. Finally, they reiterated their concern over the growing digital divide between ACP Countries on the one hand and on the other, the main emerging economies in the developed world, urging industrialised countries to contribute towards building a more equitable information society.