From Object to Subject. Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe’s External Relations

A Joint International Conference in Berlin November 5-6th, 2007, organized by the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung (FNSt) and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP)

Africa is Moving Forward

Download: Guiding Questions

Africa is back on track and on the move, indicated by the fact that the economic outlook in Africa is improving after a decade of growth of more than 5%. In Europe, in the US and in Asia, the big players of world politics are increasingly interested in African politics and its impact beyond the continent. The forthcoming European-African Summit in Lisbon December 8-9th 2007 - the first one since the Cairo Summit in 2000 – is proof that Africa is not excluded from the rest of the world. In fact, Africa is part and parcel of international politics and the world economy. Against this background this international conference “From Object to Subject. Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe’s External Relations” took place at an appropriate time and offered a unique opportunity for Africans, Europeans and Americans to critically discuss and review the difficult and sometimes delicate relationship between the European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and its Sub-Saharan member states. A wide range of politicians, businessmen, experts and scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa, the EU and the US were challenged to deal with four topics:

• African and European Relations: African Views
• African and European Relations: European Views
• Trade
• Security
The guiding questions concerning the first two topics focused on:

• How do European and African nations and political organisations perceive each other, their respective role in the world and their policy towards each other?
• Is Europe/EU and Africa/AU seen as units or do their member states dominate the perception?
• Is the dominant role of the EU and AU in the respective area widely accepted, and are they seen as legitimate of European and Africa interests?
• Do Europe and Africa share major interests in international affairs?
• Which policy areas are best suited for co-operation between Europe and Africa, and is there a congruence of policies?

The guiding questions concerning the third topic focused on:
• What are the major trade challenges, and is trade a policy area which Europe and Africa share major interests?
• What is the future of European-African Trade relations beyond Economic Partnership Agreements?
• Will the significance of Europe as trading partner in Africa decline and that of Africa in European trade increase?
• Will Europe pursue a policy towards Africa, which is dominated by the interest of getting access to strategic resources?
• Will China be the preferred trading partner for Africa?

The guiding questions concerning the fourth topic focused on:
• Which are the major security challenges, and do Europe and Africa share major interests as far as security issues are concerned?
• Does an institutionalisation of European-African security co-operation make sense, and if yes, in which way?
• Who are the most accepted security providers in Africa, and is the deployment of European troops in Africa to overcome security problems widely excepted by Europeans?

Mair, Gerhard, Georg Boomgaarden (Secretary of State, Foreign Office)

Wolfgang Gerhardt, chairman of FNSt, and Stefan Mair, director of Studies of SWP, welcomed all participants on behalf of the organisers and pointed out the fact that this international conference had been deliberately planned by taking into account the forthcoming summit in Lisbon, which is aiming at renewing and strengthening European-African relations. In addition, this joint conference was the first co-operation of the German think tank “Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik” and the German political foundation “Friedrich Naumann Stiftung FÜR DIE FREIHEIT”.

Listen (mp3): Stefan Mair, Stefan Mair and Wolfgang Gerhardt


State Secretaty Boomgaarden speaks on African-European Summit in Lisbon, 8. /9. December, 2007

Boomgaarden

“The EU and Africa are about to embark for the first time on a really joint venture, namely the Joint EU-Africa Strategy and a first Action Plan”. This statement was made by State Secretary Georg Boomgaarden from the Foreign Office, when he gave the lead speech at an international conference “From Object to Subject. Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe’s External Relations”, jointly organized by Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit and Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Politik.
He outlined the new dimension of cooperation, which “…is that of a partnership amongst equals, ‘on an equal footing’, as the expression goes, trying to the extent possible to move away from the traditional donor-recipient to a more cooperative and business like relationship.”

Text of speech (PDF)

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