1. Ethiopia at the 6th EU-AU Summit

Ethiopia at the 6th EU-AU Summit

The summit was a timely opportunity to have close consultation with European partner on the need to ascertain the sovereignty and territorial integrity against the blatant acts of the TPLF clique.

Credit: European Union

The Ethiopian delegation led by H.E. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, has taken part in the 6th AU-EU Summit held in Brussels from 17-18 February 2022. It is to be recalled that the summit was delayed for more than two years due to the COVID pandemic. H.E. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has attended the plenary gathering where an outcome declaration was issued “A Joint Vision for 2030” while conferring on the sideline with various EU high level officials and heads of state and government.

The summit deliberated on multitude of issues, including Health, vaccine, private sector development, connectivity, security, peace and sustainable economic development and migration. During the meeting, a series of thematic roundtables were organized and debated by participants with a view to flesh out concrete and deliverable initiatives.

The Summit also served as platform to introduce flagship initiatives for leaders of the two continents of which the EU – Africa Global Gateway Investment Package being the main one. The Africa-Europe Investment Package of EUR 150 billion that was announced by the European union side to support a common ambition for 2030 and AU Agenda 2063. This is part of EU’s Global Gateway strategy, which seeks to invest €300 billion in public and private infrastructure schemes between 2021 and 2027. The Global Gateway strategy, which was announced in December 2021, aims to increase investments both in hard and soft infrastructure projects notably in the digital, climate and energy, transport, health, education and research sectors. It is an important expression of partnership that the EU reaffirmed its commitment to provide at least 450 million vaccine doses to Africa. This would allow the attempt to vaccinate 60% of Africans by the end of this year. It was also significant that the summit took a noteworthy step towards boosting Africa’s strategic autonomy in pharma-manufacturing by unveiling an initiative supported by the European Union that makes six African countries beneficiary of the MRNA technology.

The crux of the summit outcomes will be adding value to the decades old continent to conflict relations created with a proper follow-up mechanism. It was therefore important that the summit declaration has underlined this fact.

In this connection, the upcoming college to college consultation between the AU and the EU will be expected with wide interest particularly on ways and means to forge common position on vaccine technology transfer. This will be a concrete step in promoting self-reliance in vaccine production to the continent and mutually reinforcing in and out interconnected world. The summit was a success in many ways, beginning from the turnout, as all 27 heads of state/government of the EU as well as 40 leaders from Africa side attended it, revealing the importance the two sides attached to their relations. Furthermore, the summit was held against the backdrop of the pandemic, following a 16-month delay due to the pandemic, in a face-to-face format. Compared to the past summits of the two continents, the 6th Summit was packed with tangible decisions that could change the lives of millions in the two continents.

Credit: Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia

Meetings of Ethiopian Delegation on the Sideline of the Summit

Apart from participating in the EU-AU Summit, Ethiopia’s delegation led by H.E. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took the opportunity to meet high officials of the European Union and fellow leaders of various countries. During his stay in Brussels, Prime Minister Abiy, among others, met with H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, H.E. Janez Jansa, Prime Minister of Slovenia, H.E. Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, and H.E. Magdalena Andersson Prime Minister of Sweden. He has taken part in the growth financing roundtable jointly chaired by current chairs of the AU and the EU. Furthermore, H.E. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had fruitful exchange of views with the leaders of the European Union, including H.E. Charles Michel, President of the European Council and H.E. Ursula Von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.

The summit was a timely opportunity to have close consultation with European partner on the need to ascertain the sovereignty and territorial integrity against the blatant acts of the TPLF clique. It was also quite important to end the destructive conflict and addressing humanitarian violations. On building national consensus, peace and reconciliation, measures, including furnishing the government work for national dialogue by establishing the National Dialogue Commission, the release of high-profile opposition party leaders, the commitment to fair humanitarian to the exact possible were well noted by counterparts during the bilateral talks. Furthermore, a mutual understanding has also been reached to strengthen cooperation in various areas of common interest. Ethiopia has signed the Lomé convention on 28 February 1975. The EU partnership with Ethiopia is currently governed by the Cotonou agreement, which comes to an end in a few months’ time and is set to be replaced by the post-Cotonou cooperation agreement.

It is to be recalled that with the aim to consolidate the political, economic, and social relations that the two continents enjoy, the two sides established a joint EU-Africa strategy in 2000. Since then, Africa and EU member countries have held six consecutive summits, including the 6th Summit, which was held in Brussels from 17-18 of February 2022, serving as a platform to engage in political and policy dialogues and define their cooperative relationship.