Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-134"
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"en.20000411.6.2-134"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, this Cairo Summit represents the result of four years of diplomatic work which has enabled the countries of the European Union and Africa to come together for this initiative, the first under this framework, overcoming many problems throughout the process, both of substance and of form. The Cairo Summit instituted a mechanism for global dialogue at the highest political level which will enable us to add a new dimension to EU-Africa relations which have, until now, been limited either to bilateral frameworks or to regional platforms for dialogue, be they the ACP mechanism or the Barcelona Process. The summit represents a turning point in relations between the two continents and will enable the European Union to make its strategic partnership with Africa as strong as its partnerships with Asia, the Gulf States or with Latin America.
The first sure indication of its success and of its historic importance was the level of representation of European and African countries: 58 countries – 45 from Africa and 13 from Europe – were represented at Head of State or Government level. This ensured that all issues of common interest to the European Union and Africa were addressed, and on an equal footing, since both sides had the opportunity to express their concerns and also their common objectives. In this context, all issues covered by these concerns and objectives – economic, political and development issues – were discussed in a frank and straightforward way.
I would like to highlight some significant measures adopted by the summit. In economic terms, understanding was reached on the need to define policies which will enable African countries to gain maximum benefit from the liberalisation of trade throughout the world, thus reversing the current trend of consistently and progressively marginalising Africa in world trade. The commitment to reduce world poverty to half its present levels by 2015 was reiterated. On the important issue of African debt, and despite the fact that at the summit a huge range of countries stated their national policies on this issue, it was stipulated that the bi-regional group of senior officials, which will in the first instance ensure that the summit’s decisions are implemented, will prepare a report on the debt situation in African countries. This report will then be studied at ministerial level, under the summit’s monitoring mechanism. On the other hand, the African countries committed themselves to promote and respect human rights, to eliminate patterns of discrimination against women, to fully support the establishment of the International Criminal Court and to combat discrimination and intolerance. In the area of good governance and the rule of law, both parties demonstrated their commitment to adopting specific measures to prevent and combat bribery, corruption and nepotism. In this context, they expressed their willingness to adopt the necessary measures to guarantee that illegally obtained public funds deposited in foreign banks should be subject to investigation and returned to their rightful owners in the countries of origin. Concern was also expressed about the harmful effect on development of military expenditure, which is constantly increasing.
Other important issues such as education, AIDS and the environment were addressed under the theme of development, with the understanding that these are essential elements of the challenge of sustainable development in Africa and of eradicating poverty. One fundamental area of dispute between Europe and Africa is returning stolen or illegally exported cultural goods. Some progress was made on this issue too. The bi-regional group of senior officials will prepare a report for assessment at ministerial level of the viability of taking further action in this area.
The last part of the action plan concerns the monitoring mechanisms. These mechanisms will guarantee the continuity of this overall dialogue between Europe and Africa at the highest political level, at ministerial and senior official level, and it has already been established that the second summit will be held in Europe in 2003, thus ensuring continuity with this process that has now begun with the first EU-Africa Summit – the Cairo Summit."@en1
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