Sumario: 22 September 2008, New York - In a key note opening address to the High Level Meeting on Africa's Development Needs held today at the United Nations in New York, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that Africa and the EU are moving to tackle a new global agenda: the great challenges of the day, such as food prices, climate change and energy security. He said that action is needed now, for example, to enable African farmers to grow more food for Africans, via better access to seeds and fertilisers. He reiterated that the Commission hopes that there will be early agreement within the European Union to its proposed new 1 billion euro Food Facility.
"Africa's development needs: state of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward"
Excellences,
Mesdames et Messieurs,
2008 ne doit pas seulement laisser le souvenir d'une année de nouveaux engagements de la communauté internationale à l'égard du monde en développement. Elle doit rester aussi comme le moment où nous avons convenu de tenir plus concrètement, et plus rapidement, nos promesses dans un nouvel esprit de partenariat.
Je tiens à saluer le Président Sarkozy et tous ses efforts pour établir un rôle renforcé de l'Europe dans le monde. Comme il vient de dire très clairement en tant que Président du Conseil européen, l'Union européenne est un acteur mondial particulièrement engagé en faveur de tous les pays en développement. Elle accorde 60 % de l'aide internationale.
Notre relation avec l'Afrique est unique. Nous sommes liés par l'histoire, par la géographie, par le commerce, par nos langues. En adoptant la stratégie commune Afrique - Union européenne en décembre 2007 à Lisbonne, nous avons ouvert un nouveau chapitre de notre relation. Ce chapitre, bien entendu, tient compte des nouvelles réalités économiques, politiques et sociales. Mais il a aussi pour vocation d'aller au-delà des domaines classiques de développement pour embrasser les questions
mondiales. Autrement dit, les défis d'aujourd'hui.
Let me take a moment to look at just three of those challenges which we must face together: food prices, climate change and energy security.
Firstly, rising world food prices. Action is needed to support agriculture in developing countries - to enable African farmers to grow more food for Africans. We have already stepped in with short term measures worth an additional €550 million in 2008. Now the Commission has proposed a new €1 billion Food Facility, promoting agricultural production by improving poor farmers' access to inputs such as fertilizers and seed. This is entirely in line with Africa's own objectives for
developing agriculture, and I hope the Facility will soon be agreed inside the European Union.
Secondly, climate change, which is hitting hardest the poorest countries of the world, with severe droughts, desertification, lack of water, and other natural disasters. Climate change could undermine the promising 6% African growth rates and it could be a threat to peace and security.
The upcoming conferences in Poznan at the end of 2008 and in Copenhagen in 2009 must be the moment when we build, together, a new international consensus. To achieve that, it will be essential for Europe and Africa to work very closely together in the coming months to build a strong partnership based in particular on adaptation, the key question for Africa. It was with this in mind that the Commission launched the setting up of the Global Climate Change Alliance between the European Union on
the one hand, and poor and vulnerable developing countries on the other.
Another aspect of our partnership, of course, concerns the struggle against deforestation, which is a major concern in Africa. We have to prevent the illegal exploitations of rainforest, and support sustainable management of the forests. A prime example of that is the forest partnership that is being established in the Congo basin.
The third area is energy, where we must look to develop together a sustainable future for both our continents. We need to establish energy security for both continents; better interconnections both between, and within, Africa and Europe; better governance and use of oil and gas revenues; and finally, we must cooperate closely to tackle the inter-linked issues of poverty, deforestation and climate change. All of these issues will be tackled in the Africa-EU Energy Partnership launched
last year.
In conclusion, I want to stress one point. I am proud of the European Union's record in working together with Africa on the crucial mission of development. But the reality is that Africa is getting to its own two feet - building stronger rates of growth, using its rich natural resources more effectively, tackling governance issues. When we in Europe say that we are partners with Africa, we are not looking to duck our responsibilities. Of course we support African models of growth. But in urging
African economies on towards emerging economy status, it is because we want Africa's future to lie in African hands.
That still requires us to work closely together to tackle global problems that recognise no frontier. But I am confident that we will now do so in a new spirit of partnership.
Thank you very much.
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