Remarks by EU Commissioner Rehn at Africa Day Reception

Remarks by Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement, at Africa Day Reception, Brussels

Dear Ambassadors, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to be with you today on the eve of the Africa Day. We Europeans celebrated our own integration process a little over two weeks ago on Europe Day. Today, we gather here to mark the process of continental integration in Africa. It is a process we Europeans can wholeheartedly encourage and support. Integration has allowed Europe to rise from two world wars and a number of regional ethnic conflicts to peace, stability and prosperity.

I am glad to replace my colleague, Commissioner Louis Michel, during this dynamic period in EU-Africa relations. 2007 is not only a year of key challenges for Africa and the future of the African Union, but also a crucial and promising year for the future of EU-Africa relationship.

We all know the challenges Africa is facing: poverty, health, conflicts. But recently, the African continent has also gone through some impressive socio-political transformations. At the same time, the EU-Africa relations have gone a long way in the past couple of years. We can be proud of what we have achieved so far. We should use this momentum to make 2007 a historic year, and take one step further by agreeing on a strategic partnership between our two continents. Indeed, the ambition we have commonly defined is nothing short of a Euro-African consensus of values, interests and strategic objectives.

The prospects of adopting the Joint Strategy during the much awaited second EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon seem good. The Summit will give us a chance to demonstrate our joint political commitment to address each other's concerns in a spirit of true partnership.

Overall, our relations have developed tremendously over the past years. We should now use the occasion to deliver a strong message to our citizens and the international community. The EU-Africa dialogue is back where it belongs, at the highest political level.

With these words, let me wish you to all of you, on behalf of the European Commission, a good and successful Africa Day!

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