Africa

An EU-Mediterranean Union has been a French favourite since President Sarkozy’s election campaign in 2007. Therefore, it is no surprise that when June turns to July and France takes over the Presidency of the European Council, more words will be said on bringing the two sides of the Mediterranean together. On 13 July an EU-Mediterranean summit is to take place in Paris but the outcome seems to be uncertain despite Mr. Sarkozy’s high ambitions. Not all Northern European countries see the relevance of creating a competitor to the already existing Barcelona process and a point of gravity that could draw away the attention of the South European countries away from the EU.

It appears that the Zimbabwean authorities will not allow foreign observers for the second round of the presidential elections ruining any hope of a fair electoral process. Morgan Svangirai, the opposition leader was essentially stripped of the victory by the Mugabe regime as the electoral committee waited 5 weeks to announce the results of the first round leaving ample time for tampering. Mr Svangirai officially got 47.9% of the vote to Mugabe’s 43.2%. No date has been set for the second round as the western world watches on, powerless. The sanctions imposed by the EU and its allies on Mugabe’s regime have no visible influence on the process. This could be a disaster waiting to happen should the people of Zimbabwe go donw the same road as the Kenyans who took part in ethnic riots after their own presidential elections were rigged earlier this year…

Those are the words of general Nash the Irishman who will be leading soldiers from 14 Member States as part of the the Eufor, an EU Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic. The objective of the mission is to provide assistance to the thousands of refugees who have fled from Darfur into Chad and who no longer receive the help of NGOs. The situation is getting especially tense because Idriss Deby the President of Chad is on the verge of being overthrown by rebels connected with the Sudanese regime. Concerns have been raised about the neutrality of the force as France, which has the largest contingent in the force, is also an ally of President Deby. Given the present context the mission has been suspended for the time being. The situation which is unfolding deserves our attention, the EU cannot afford to get embroiled in a civil war which would undermine its credibility in peace keeping for many years to come.

Those were the words of Congolese economy professor, Aime Mianzenza when criticising the new EU-Africa trade deals proposed by the EU at an EU-Africa summit last December in Lisbon. They outline the duty-free terms for most imports coming from the poor continent to the south. The condition of the EU proposal was that African countries would gradually open up their markets to competition, which led many African countries to turn it down. At the core of the debate lies a longstanding controversy in international trade policy: at what point in the course of economic development does competition benefit a poor developing country. Some argue that the African refusal to open up their markets is a token of sheer protectionism that in the longer run undermines their own economic growth. Others argue that the EU and the US are leading a campaign of equally crude protectionism in the name of trade liberalism spearheaded by the WTO. A campaign that, if successful, would see European subsidised agricultural products flood the African markets and destroy their home economy. The truth probably lies somewhere in between.