A “partnership between equals” was the main message defended by the President of the European Commission, at the end of the 10th Meeting between the European Commission (EC) and the African Union (AU).

The meeting, held on 27 February at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, was co-chaired by the Chairperson of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, and the Chairperson of the EC. Ursula von der Leyen highlighted, before leaving for the capital of Ethiopia, the need to strengthen the partnership between Europe and Africa, two continents that share a “historical bond” and “shared challenges”. Common priorities and challenges were aspects also mentioned in the opening speech of the meeting, in which the President highlighted the idea of equality reflected in the field of opportunities and responsibilities.

The meeting was attended by 22 EU Commissioners and nine AU elected officials, who discussed the guiding vectors of the partnership between the two continents: strengthening peace, security and good governance; stimulate investment in technology to promote digital innovation and the creation of a single digital market in Africa, by 2030; promote the regulation of cooperation policies on climate change and resilient and sustainable employment infrastructures; and manage migration and mobility.

Regarding priorities in matters of peace, security and good governance, the two Commissions changed the strategy defined for the use of political, security and humanitarian instruments in order to make it more effective in combating common threats (terrorism, trafficking and transnational crimes and cybercrime). Furthermore, the importance of developing African solutions to African security problems and of reaffirming cooperation in several areas set out in the 2018 Memorandum of Understanding was highlighted, namely the training of forces, the exchange of information and surveillance and monitoring.

Regarding technological issues, the Commissions defended infrastructure as the basis of socioeconomic development and job creation and decided to continue supporting the Program for Infrastructure in Africa (PIDA). In this vein, they agreed on the importance of investing in core areas such as the digital economy, transport and connectivity, and sustainable energy.

With regard to the climate issue, the Commissions recognized the need for a long-term strategy and the negative impact of climate change on food production, health infrastructure and river sources. In this sense, the two parties reinforced the commitments made in the Paris Agreement and determined the objective of reaching the amount of 100 billion dollars per year, from 2020, to support developing countries in the face of the climate crisis. Furthermore, the Commissions committed to collaborating to find global solutions to be discussed at COP26 in November 2020.

Regarding migration issues, the Commissions committed to strengthening dialogue between continents on migration, refugees, human trafficking and mobility, and agreed to develop concrete proposals to be presented at the EU-AU Summit in 2020. They also recognized the role of Africa in the reception of refugees and their social inclusion