By Marta Martinelli
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| Can EU and Africa strengthen their cooperation? |
The 2007 Joint
Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) is one of the main frameworks for
Africa-European Union (EU) relations. It was intended to end the unbalanced
donor-recipient relationship typical of past relations between Africa and the
EU, and to be a truly diverse and people-focused initiative, where civil
society had a key place alongside institutions and member governments.
The upcoming Africa-EU Summit in April 2014 envisages its
reform. Indeed, six years on a key issue concerns the ability of the
partnership to deliver concrete results for the lives of European and African
citizens and prove its added value in relation to other frameworks for
EU-Africa engagement. All partners harbor doubts that the partnership in its
current form can promote significant change in Africa-EU relations.
Structural impediments to a more effective JAES include
cumbersome decision-making procedures and excessively broad areas of focus;
unbalanced funding (with African states and financial institutions more
reluctant to provide resources); little connection with other international
processes such as the Cotonou
Agreement and the Post-2015
Development Agenda; and no dedicated funds for civil society
participation. Politically, the project has lost momentum. Thorny questions
such as negotiations over the Economic Partnership Agreements between Africa
and the EU, and the role of the International Criminal Court undermine the
relationship between the two continents.
Societal challenges also remain. Events in Africa and Europe
(the North African uprisings, the rise of populism, and economic uncertainty in
Europe) divert public attention from international projects towards internal
matters. Participation and consultation of civil society are organized in
different ways in Africa and in Europe, and suffer from a lack of dedicated
resources, making alignment of civil society methods and objectives difficult
to achieve.
A civil society intercontinental forum with 32 African and
36 European civil society organizations (CSOs) gathered in Brussels in October
2013 to assess JAES progress and discuss current reform proposals from African
and EU institutional representatives. From the beginning, CSOs have played
a key role in identifying strategic priorities, and implementing and monitoring
the initiatives adopted in the two JAES action plans (2007-2010 and 2010-2013).
This currently happens through participation in JAES
structures such as the informal Expert Groups (iJEGs), which gather sectoral
expertise and institutional representatives, and the Joint Task Force (JTF),
where the EU and AU Commissions convene and where civil society participates
when invited. Eight thematic partnerships (on peace and security, democratic
governance and human rights, migration and mobility, Millennium Development
Goals, climate change and environment, science and information technology,
trade and regional integration, and energy) ensure that civil society can
contribute observations on proposals and participate in their implementation.
Civil society representatives at the forum recognized that
the JAES has improved dialogue between the EU and Africa, but remain concerned
by the scarcity of concrete achievements. CSOs also noted the low level
of engagement by member states on both sides.
Current EU and African proposals to reform the JAES insist
on the necessity to avoid duplications with other international partnerships
and processes, such as the UN’s work on human rights or the development
frameworks. African partners suggest the streamlining of structures within the
JAES. European proposals focus on avoiding the creation of new bodies and
building on the functioning structures such as the EU Council working groups.
This would ensure that the JAES is associated with existing structures and
earns early buy-in from member states including during implementation.
Both proposals tend to exclude CSOs from substantial
deliberations. Increased formality of iJEGs and JTFs would result in a drastic
reduction of the role of civil society, most likely limited to reporting from
separate CSO deliberations. If this was the case, a fundamental pillar of the
partnership’s democratic governance would be eliminated in favour of a purely
institution-to-institution approach. The 'people centered' character of JAES
would be lost and civil society would be in a much weaker position to
contribute to and monitor the partnership.
The thematic priorities for the next action plan are also
unclear. The EU insists on peace, democracy, and human rights; sustainable
growth; and tackling global issues. African partners suggest a broader focus on
peace and security; democracy, good governance, human rights and cultural
cooperation; continental integration through, inter alia, accelerated
infrastructure, development projects, investment and promotion of intra-Africa
trade; sustainable and inclusive development; and human capital development.
Civil society has identified the following areas of common
concern that should guide the JAES initiatives and identify where it has added
value:
- migration;
- food security;
- social and economic inequalities;
- peace and security governance;
- political participation, human rights, and transparency; and
- trade, regional integration, and investments.
A closer look at other processes like the Africa Peer Review Mechanism, which has
compiled its own best practices, would also help to identify areas where
thematic priorities can align or complement existing frameworks.
Civil society has shown consistent support for the JAES
project as a framework for EU-Africa relations and for building shared
outlooks. However, CSOs claim that it is important to ensure that the financial
burden of supporting the JAES is equally shared by European and African
partners.
It is also important to address politically sensitive issues
such as Economic Partnership Agreements and international justice. In this
regard civil society could develop concrete initiatives by increasing advocacy,
engaging in intercontinental monitoring mechanisms, and develop policy
proposals that suggest ways out of the current blockages.
NGOs agree that it is important to simplify procedures and
identify key thematic areas of joint work where progress can benefit both European
and African societies. However, they believe such choices should be based on a
thorough evaluation of the past two action plans and the added value of the
JAES as opposed to other international frameworks. Currently, no realistic
assessment has been communicated by the institutions to indicate where the JAES
can make a difference in EU-Africa relations.
Structurally, CSOs have suggested setting up civil society
working groups whose representatives would also sit in decision making fora.
The creation of a permanent secretariat would facilitate civil society work and
function as a documentation center where information on initiatives undertaken
under JAES can be preserved and accessed transparently. Finally, civil society
supports the promotion of gender equality on both continents and suggests that
an intercontinental women’s forum could be created and supported through the
Pan-African financing mechanism.
The third action plan will take the JAES into its second
decade of existence. Thematic priorities and structural reforms (including of
financing mechanisms) are key to ensuring that it can deliver concrete results.
If it loses sight of its role as a people-centered strategy, it will become an
irrelevant project for the populations of both continents. Civil society is an
integral part of the strategy and must be supported in this role.
Marta Martinelli is Senior Policy Officer at the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
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