{"id":3260,"date":"2022-02-22T14:40:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-22T13:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/erik-marquardt.eu\/?p=3260"},"modified":"2022-02-25T16:48:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T15:48:55","slug":"keine-partnerschaft-auf-augenhoehe-bei-eu-afrika-gipfel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erik-marquardt.eu\/en\/no-partnership-at-eye-level-at-eu-africa-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"„Partnership at eye level“ at EU-Africa summit a long way off"},"content":{"rendered":"
On February 17 and 18 took place the sixth and corona long awaited EU-Africa summit<\/a> was held, at which the leaders of the African Union and the European Union meet every three years, alternately in Europe and Africa. The summit was organized around seven different \"roundtables.\" But most of the outcomes were set beforehand behind closed doors, without significant consultation with civil society or involvement of the parliamentary level. This is all the more worrying because these decisions have far-reaching consequences. Here, I assess what the summit means for issues of migration, global immunization justice, and cooperation with African states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The official list of topics ranges from growth financing, vaccine production, agriculture, education, culture, climate change, digitization and much more: Everywhere, the states of Africa are to be promoted in order to march together at eye level and as \"closest partners and neighbors\" in the direction of \"solidarity, security, peace and sustainability\" – as far as full-bodied claims go. But a real partnership at eye level unfortunately does not exist. For the sake of assessment, I would like to shine a spotlight on two central points of the summit:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fighting the Corona pandemic would have offered a historic opportunity to break with old patterns of dependency. Already, the pandemic has massively exacerbated global inequalities. These divisions will continue to grow: While vaccination coverage in Europe is around 70%, and could be significantly higher if there was sufficient vaccination preparedness, only 12% of people in the African Union have had access to vaccines. It will likely take years to close this gap. Releasing the vaccine patents would be a watershed moment: establishing independent vaccine production is a matter of months, not years, after the granted release. Accordingly, the patent release has been vehemently demanded by African countries. However, the EU continues to categorically reject this and instead hands out handouts: 450 million doses are to be delivered by mid-2022, plus support payments for the distribution and administration of the vaccine doses to the population. This further cements the dependence of the AU states on Europe and on international pharmaceutical companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the area of flight and migration, too, a \"partnership of equals\" is a long way off. In fact, current agreements with African states are only very abstractly about combating the causes of flight, but very concretely about combating flight and migration itself. There are attempts to tie this even more closely to the allocation of funds. This will force states in Africa to<\/a>The EU's policy of building borders and limiting global freedom of movement is becoming more and more openly discussed. In the meantime, there is increasingly open talk of a Frontex deployment in Africa<\/a> thought and negotiated, although the European Border Management Agency is currently failing to apply applicable law in Europe as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Overall, the EU has long lacked a comprehensive approach that goes beyond the buzzword \"fighting the causes of flight. Increasing causes of flight cannot be permanently compensated for with higher fences and more restrictive agreements, and this policy certainly cannot be reconciled with European values and fundamental human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat issues were negotiated?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Donations instead of self-determination: Rejection of Global Immunization Justice<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
European borders in Africa: migration control to be expanded<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion of the Summit: Old Dependencies Instead of \"New Deals<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n