The European Parliament adopted by 588 votes to 38, with 13 abstentions, a resolution in response to the Commission Communication entitled ‘One year after Lisbon: The Africa-EU partnership at work’.

Setting up of EU-Africa architecture : the Parliament welcomes the fact that, one year after the adoption of the Joint Strategy, the main components of the institutional architecture for its implementation are finally in place and have started to function. It regrets, however, that, by the end of the first year of implementation, some partnerships are still in the process of defining working methods and have not yet established deliverables, timetables and budget allocations.

The EU and African Union (AU) Commissions and the Member States of the EU and the AU are called upon to complete as a matter of priority this institutional architecture by developing the parliamentary, civil society and local authorities components that should drive and sustain the process by giving it transparency, ownership and democratic legitimacy.

Role of parliaments : MEPs reiterate their request to the EU and AU Commissions to take active steps to involve the European and Pan-African Parliaments in implementing, monitoring and providing political guidance for the Joint Strategy. They propose that the Presidents of the Pan-African Parliament and the European Parliament address EU-Africa Summits to present Parliaments’ conclusions on the implementation of the Action Plan and suggestions for the future orientations of the Joint Strategy.

MEPs welcome the fact that the European Commission has established a EUR 55 million support programme in the 9th European Development Fund (EDF) for strengthening the capacities of the AU institutions. They insist once again that part of this budget must be made available for strengthening the administrative and operational capacity of the Pan-African Parliament.

Civil society and non-state actors : MEPs regret that, whereas the Action Plan indicates that each of the Africa-EU Partnerships is open for a wide range of actions, overwhelming emphasis is placed on state actions. The European Commission is called upon to develop appropriate capacity building tools for African civil society organisations.

Partnerships : the resolution notes that the Joint Strategy should also address issues which have a profound influence on the future of Africa and which shape the relationship between the two continents, such as the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) and the relationship between the EPA regional groupings and other existing regional groupings in Africa, the second revision of the Cotonou Agreement, the Euro-Mediterranean Strategy, the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership, and Africa's relationship with new global players such as China and Brazil.

Peace and security : the Parliament calls for due priority to be assigned to implementing the African peace and security architecture. It stresses once again that the EDF is not an adequate financing source for future replenishment of the African Peace Facility and is of the view that EDF spending should comply with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) criteria for official development assistance. The Parliament reiterates its call for a definitive solution for African Peace Facility financing.

Governance and human rights : the Parliament stresses the importance of sustainable democracy and that governance must be improved on both sides: it is not only a priority in Africa but also on the European side which must improve governance and accountability as regards aid commitments and better donor coordination.

MEPs express serious concern that the "governance profiles" developed by the Commission for each ACP country, which will guide programming for development assistance in relation to the EUR 2.7 billion additional funds under the 10th EDF, have been prepared without any participatory element. They note that eligibility for additional funds of beneficiary countries has been judged according to a set of criteria only one of which is directly linked to the MDGs. The European Commission is called upon to consult and inform the European Parliament and the Council on the follow-up and the implementation of these funds in order to make sure they are allocated to governance initiatives to support the AU governance agenda and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) process.

MEPs call for the dialogue under the governance and human rights partnership to address impunity for human rights abuses.

Trade, economic development and regional integration : MEPs believe that the EU should help African states to ensure that their agriculture is self-sufficient and to foster essential services and vulnerable domestic industries. They insist that the final EPAs signed with African states must be first and foremost tools for development which respect the various beneficiaries' different capacities and levels of development.

The European Commission and the Member States are called upon to honour their commitment to provide by 2010 at least EUR 2 billion a year in genuine 'aid for trade', the largest share of which must be for Africa. These funds should be additional resources and not be merely repackaging of EDF funding.

Key development issues : the Parliament insists, as regards the partnership on the MDGs, that even with more and better aid it will be difficult to meet these goals. MEPs therefore urge EU Member States to uphold their commitments, particularly as regards the volume of their aid, policy coherence, ownership, transparency and division of labour between donors. They encourage the African countries to make basic health and primary and secondary education one of the main priorities of their poverty reduction strategies and call on the partnership to promote such a development. They also call on the Member States of the EU and the AU to attach greater importance to African food security and food sovereignty and to support actions to increase the productivity and competitiveness of African agriculture.

Other aspects of the strategy : the resolution insists that fresh funds are necessary if African states are to avoid being forced to pay a disproportionate price for adaptation to climate change and mitigation of its effects. MEPs call for a fair and workable solution to the 'brain drain' and call on the Commission to use the EU-Africa partnership to help African countries apply the flexibilities provided for in the Doha Declaration on Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and public health, in order to facilitate access to affordable essential medicines in Africa.

Lastly, the European Institutions are called upon to create a specific financial instrument for implementing the Joint Strategy, centralising all existing sources of funding, in a clear, predictable and programmable way.

The Committee on Development adopted the own-initiative report drawn up by Maria MARTENS (EPP-ED, NL) in response to the Commission Communication entitled "One year after Lisbon: The Africa-EU partnership at work".

Setting up of EU-Africa architecture : the committee welcomes the fact that, one year after the adoption of the Joint Strategy, the main components of the institutional architecture for its implementation are finally in place and have started to function, underpinned by an Action Plan with deliverables and timetables, and that some progress has been made towards implementation of the Joint Strategy and its thematic partnerships. However, it regrets that some partnerships are still in the process of defining working methods and have not yet established timetables and budget allocations. It calls for the completion of this institutional architecture by developing the parliamentary, civil society and local authority components that should drive the process by giving it transparency, ownership and democratic legitimacy.

Role of parliaments: they reiterate their request to the EU and AU Commissions to take active steps to involve the European and Pan-African Parliaments in implementing, monitoring and providing political guidance for the Joint Strategy. The report proposes that the Presidents of the Pan-African Parliament and the European Parliament address EU-Africa Summits to present Parliaments’ conclusions on the implementation of the Action Plan and suggestions for the future orientations of the Joint Strategy. Whist welcoming the EUR 55 million support programme in the 9th European Development Fund (EDF), the committee insists that part of this budget must be made available for strengthening the administrative and operational capacity of the Pan-African Parliament.

Civil society and non-state actors : whereas the Action Plan indicates that each of the Africa-EU Partnerships is open for a wide range of actions, Members regret that overwhelming emphasis is placed on state actions. The committee is concerned at the low level of involvement of African civil society in the implementation of the Joint Strategy.

Partnerships : the committee notes that the Joint Strategy should also address issues which, although formally belonging to a different institutional architecture, have a profound influence on the future of Africa, such as the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) and the relationship between the EPA regional groupings and other existing regional groupings in Africa (including the Regional Economic Communities), the second revision of the Cotonou Agreement, the Euro-Mediterranean Strategy, the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership, and Africa’s relationship with new global players such as China and Brazil.

Peace and security: Members call for due priority to be assigned to implementing the African peace and security architecture, stressing that the EDF is not an adequate financing source for future replenishment of the African Peace Facility. EDF spending should comply with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) criteria for official development assistance. Members reiterate their call for a definitive solution for African Peace Facility financing.

Governance: the report expresses serious concern that the "governance profiles" developed by the Commission for each ACP country, which will guide programming for development assistance in relation to the EUR 2.7 billion additional funds under the 10th EDF, have been prepared without any participatory element. It notes that eligibility for additional funds of beneficiary countries has been judged according to a set of criteria only one of which is directly linked to the MDGs, and calls on the European Commission to report on the implementation of these funds in order to make sure they are allocated to governance initiatives to support the AU governance agenda and the APRM process.

Trade: Members insist that the final EPAs signed with African states must be primarily tools for development which respect the various beneficiaries' different capacities and levels of development. They also insist that the Commission and Member States honour their commitment to provide by 2010 at least EUR 2 billion a year in genuine 'aid for trade', the largest share of which must be for Africa. These funds should be additional resources and not be merely repackaging of EDF funding.

Other issues : as regards the partnership on the MDGs, the report notes that even with more aid it will be difficult to meet these goals. It urges Member States to uphold recent commitments particularly as regards the volume of their aid, policy coherence, ownership, transparency and division of labour between donors.

The committee insists that fresh funds are necessary if African states are to avoid being forced to pay a disproportionate price for adaptation to the effects of climate change. It notes the need for a fair solution to the 'brain drain', and calls for help for African countries to apply the flexibilities provided for in the Doha Declaration on TRIPS, in order to facilitate access to affordable essential medicines in Africa.

Lastly, the committee calls once again on the EU institutions to create a specific financial instrument for implementing the Joint Strategy , centralising all existing sources of funding, in a clear and programmable way. It questions to what extent the Joint Strategy will be able to achieve its lofty ambitions or offer genuine added value without any new funding whatsoever or even reprogramming of existing funding.

This Commission staff working document provides a first indicative overview of concrete short- and mid-term deliverables proposed by the Commission for the Africa-EU strategic partnership. Based on the results of the College-to-College meeting of October 2008 between the European Commission and the African Union Commission (AUC), preliminary discussions in the EU Implementation Teams, and a series of internal inter-service consultations, this working document identifies ongoing or planned activities through which the EU, and in particular the European Commission, could contribute the 8 thematic partnerships of the Action Plan.

However, the document recalls that successful implementation of this strategic partnership relies on the shared responsibility between African and the EU side. Within the EU, success depends on effective burden sharing, division of labour and coherence between Member States and the Commission.

The paper discusses the Commission’s plans and priority actions in the following areas: peace and security partnership, partnership on democratic governance and human rights, partnership on trade and regional integration, the MDG partnership, the energy partnership, the partnership on climate change, the partnership on migration, mobility and employment, partnership on science, information society and space, as well as addressing cross-cutting issues of the Joint Strategy and the Action Plan, such as gender and communication.

The Commission will also intensify its bilateral activities with the AUC in the field of institutional capacity building and administrative cooperation.

Over the coming months, the Commission will identify in greater detail the inputs from services which hold primary responsibility for the implementation of the thematic partnerships, as well as the financial instruments and resources that will be used. It describes the DGs involved.Regular inter-service consultations will review this paper as a 'living document'.

Such an updated “tableau de bord” will allow Commissioners and the Senior Management to provide the impetus for wider EU and euro-African efforts, and to exercise the necessary guidance and managerial oversight over the Commission internal implementation process. This should in particular improve the monitoring of progress, the addressing of possible shortfalls, and the allocation of the necessary financial and human resources to underpin the implementation architecture and - process.

A regularly updated review will also facilitate the compilation of consolidated EU inputs, bringing together Member States' and Commission initiatives, as contribution to future joint (EU African) progress reports.

A review of this working document will therefore be established before the first Ministerial EU-Africa Troika in 2009. Based on feedback from European and African stakeholders, this revision should also address the financing of the working arrangements and institutional architecture agreed in Lisbon, including the possible use by the AU of the EUR 55 million capacity building programme – managed by the AUC - to support further the participation of the African side.

PURPOSE: to present a Joint Africa-EU Strategy one year after in European Council summit in Lisbon in December 2007.

CONTENT: the Commission recalls that, a t their second Summit in Lisbon in December 2007, the EU and African Heads of State and Government adopted a Joint Africa-EU Strategy, a policy document which marks a fundamental break with the past and provides a comprehensive framework for Africa-EU relations. This was complemented by an Action Plan for 2008-2010 , bringing concrete substance to the policies outlined in the Joint Strategy.

Consisting of 8 sectoral partnerships, the Action Plan is the main operational agenda for Africa-EU cooperation until the next Summit, which will be held in Africa in 2010. Underlining its political commitment to the process, the European Commission decided to prepare this Communication on progress and the challenges ahead.

This Communication assesses progress made during the first year of implementation; outlines the main challenges ahead, thus serving as a basis for discussion among all stakeholders; and provides input for the joint progress report for the Ministerial Troika meeting of November 2008.

The Communication provides an overview of initial progress made on the overall political objectives of the Joint Strategy and the implementation of the 8 partnerships. And outlines the key recommendations on how to move forward, better and faster.

It notes that 2008 has been a significant year in Africa-EU relations: long-standing cooperation has been further strengthened and important new policy initiatives have been launched. The basis for the long-term success of the Strategy is in place. Both sides have already started to implement the ambitious operational agenda of the thematic partnerships. The initial progress needs to be accelerated, broadened and consolidated.

An important next step is the establishment of the Joint Expert Groups which will implement and coordinate the 8 partnerships. This requires effective working arrangements on the African side, including a clear definition of the respective contributions, roles and responsibilities of African countries, the AUC and other pan-African bodies, the RECs and other relevant stakeholders. Parliaments, civil societies, the private sector, multilateral organisations and committed international partners need to engage in the implementation process. Last, but not least, both sides should promote greater policy coherence and complementarity between the thematic partnerships, and step up their communication and information sharing efforts, so that stakeholders, interested citizens, journalists and researchers can monitor the progress and results of this partnership.

Taking account also of the discussions during the European Commission and the AUC at their College-to-College meeting on 1 October 2008, the European Commission has identified recommendations for the way ahead, focusing on key issues to be urgently addressed :

(1) the partnership relies on collective efforts. Therefore, members of the Implementation Teams on both sides need to underpin their political commitment to the process with concrete contributions, including human and financial resources and technical expertise – in Brussels, Addis Ababa, and at national level;

(2) the EU Implementation Teams should finalise the comprehensive mappings of cooperation initiatives and available resources, and develop an implementation roadmap including priorities and early deliverables. The African side should promote African ownership of the Joint Strategy and proactive involvement in its implementation, and should speedily set up effective internal working arrangements. Experts from both sides should then jointly kick-start the implementation of the Action Plan, including agreed priority projects , before the next Ministerial Troika in November 2008;

(3) before November 2008, first consultative discussions should be held with key noninstitutional actors, including civil society, academia and the private sector, to enable them to play an active role in the implementation and monitoring of the Joint Strategy;

(4) both sides should pursue efforts to "treat Africa as one" and to adapt relevant policies and legal and financial frameworks to the needs and objectives of the partnership with a view to foster continent-wide projects as well as cooperation between Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, institutional setups such as the

Africa-related working arrangements of the Council, should be further rationalised to reflect this principle;

(5)the Joint Strategy and its Action Plan were adopted by the Heads of State and Government, and must be collectively owned as whole-of-government commitments.

Coordination should be improved to reflect the Joint Strategy as a cross-cutting priority for all ministries and departments, in political as well as in financial terms;

(6) European and African actors should integrate the principles, objectives and priorities of the Joint Strategy into the programming of financial and technical cooperation, as well as into their political dialogue and meetings with third parties;

(7) European and African actors should also live up to their commitments to enhance contacts, coordination and cooperation in UN and other international bodies and multilateral negotiations, and set up efficient consultative and coordination structures;

(8) the EU should reaffirm its political and financial commitments to Africa. Despite the current difficult economic situation, the EU needs to provide half of its pledged additional ODA for 2010 and 2015 to Africa;

(9) the African side, too, needs to provide the necessary leadership in, and responsibility for, the effective delivery of its commitments and pledged contributions

to the implementation of the Strategy and Action Plan;

(10) organize a structured dialogue with the European Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament, including regular hearings on the progress of the Strategic Partnership.

Lastly, as an overarching common element that should be integrated in all the 8 partnerships, more emphasis should be placed on communication – a successful and people-centred partnership requires transparency on both the achievements and challenges of the process. Process and progress should be presented in simple and accessible language on paper, through television and radio, and online.