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'Summit of little substance'
10/12/2007 11:54 - (SA)
Lisbon - European and African leaders sought to open a new era of closer relations, but their summit closed with squabbling over trade and human rights.
Old divisions surfaced at the first summit in seven years between the continents as leaders swapped accusations over the crises in Zimbabwe and Darfur and post-colonial tensions deepened over free trade
deals.
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade said most African leaders had dismissed the European Union's free trade proposals. While the deals were not being hammered out at the summit, the meeting had been seen as a chance to push for progress.
Free trade proposals
The proposals "aren't in Africa's interest", Wade said in angry comments at a news conference on Sunday. In a statement later, President Thabo Mbeki was more measured, but also said the proposals "will not contribute to the development of the African-Carribean-Pacific countries as they do not assist in fighting poverty".
The EU is offering African governments unrestricted access to its 27-country market if they in turn grant tariff reductions for European goods - a measure Africans fear will make their less competitive local companies vulnerable.
African Union Commission President Alpha Oumar Konare said the EU had to give up its "colonial approach".
"The riches of Africa must be paid for at a fair price," he said.
The tone of indignation reflected a tense atmosphere at the end of the talks in Portugal.
Officials from both continents said the presence of more than 70 heads of government showed leaders on both continents wanted better relations. But they left the Portuguese capital with only a broad statement of intentions.
Human rights and aid groups expressed exasperation. Save the Children said in a statement the summit was "a high-profile exercise of little substance".
Mugabe
Differences over the human rights record of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and measures to help end the conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur dogged the event.
Asked what was his message to Europe as he arrived at the summit venue on Sunday, Mugabe said nothing but raised his arm and made a fist.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday the EU was "united" in condemning Mugabe for what they view as his economic mismanagement, failure to curb corruption and contempt for democracy. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stayed away from the summit in protest against
Mugabe's attendance.
Mugabe was reportedly scathing toward his European critics in his speech at a closed session.
"He said criticisms were trumped-up charges against Zimbabwe and the result of arrogance from the EU," according to a European official who attended the summit, but who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to discuss the details publicly.
Ghanian President John Kufuor, current chair of the AU, said the organisation supports mediation efforts among Zimbabwe's main political parties being led by Mbeki and aimed at political reform. But he insisted that meddling from outside Africa would be unhelpful.
"We want to encourage a home-grown solution so there will be a restoration of normalcy and good governance for the people of Zimbabwe," Kufuor said.
Darfur conflict
Measures to help end the conflict in Darfur were another point of contention.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has so far refused to allow non-Africans into a 26 000-strong UN-AU peacekeeping force planned for Darfur. EU nations, meanwhile, have failed to come up with the needed military hardware to support the operation.
Sudan and United Nations envoys met on the sidelines of the summit.
They said in a brief joint statement there had been "clarification" of some issues but gave no details.
On trade, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso acknowledged the difficulty of reaching free-trade deals between wealthy European countries and poor African nations.
The EU wants to meet a December 31 deadline set by the World Trade Organisation for replacing its trading system with former European colonies around the world, including in Africa. The WTO has ruled that the EU's 30-year-old preferential trade agreement with Africa was unfair to other trading nations and violated international rules.
The two sides will press ahead with talks on interim accords with individual African countries to assure they continue to enjoy privileged access to European markets, Barroso said.
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