Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-10-24-Speech-3-360"
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"en.20071024.40.3-360"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, I wish to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Martens, for this important report. On the one hand, it is a clear indication to the Commission that the parliamentary dimension must this time have a role in the drafting of the Joint EU-Africa Strategy. The fact that the Commission ignored not just its opposite number, but also Parliament, when it was preparing the EU Strategy for Africa in 2005, has, unfortunately, been a common approach for the Commission. On the other hand, the report, to its credit, raises a number of important questions of content which need an answer, and the matter of the strategy to adopt.
Firstly, history clearly shows that universal human rights require universal protection if they are to be realised. For this reason it is vital that the priorities for peace and security in the EU’s Africa strategy incorporate a view which recognises the concept of the responsibility to protect, and promotes it. We have a responsibility to protect, and that must also be the subject of a debate within the EU.
Secondly, as the report laudably stresses, climate change must be a top priority in the strategy. Water, its quality and sufficiency, will, with energy, become a serious political problem, and then Africa will be its very first victim. I would nevertheless like to remind everyone that Africa’s most serious environmental problems are for the present erosion and overgrazing. Climate change obviously makes things worse. Adaptation and support measures are needed. Besides, for the EU Africa is a natural partner in international contexts in the fight against climate change.
Thirdly, I would like to stress the importance of small businesses and local entrepreneurship as a condition of sustainable and real economic development in Africa. We should ensure that the action we take supports it. Only the local population itself can get Africa on its feet."@en1
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