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Libya: Pan-African and European Parliaments - Key Actors of EU-Africa Relations

Global Arab Network - Africa-EU Summit in Libya

Sunday, 28 November 2010 14:44

Africa-EU Summit in Libya - (Tripoli ) - The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was created in 2004 and is composed of 5-Member delegations from each of the African Union (AU) Member States. It has its permanent seat in Midrand, South Africa and convenes twice a year. Its Second Legislature started in October 2009 under the Presidency of the Hon. Dr. Idriss Ndélé Moussa (Chad), Global Arab Network reports according to a press statement.

The European Parliament (EP) is composed of 736 Members who are directly elected every five years and represent the 500 million EU citizens of the 27 Member States. The EP meets in Strasbourg and Brussels. The last elections took place in 2009, and the current President is Jerzy Buzek from Poland.

A successful parliamentary partnership
The two parliaments have maintained close contacts since 2004. In 2006, the EP created an ad hoc delegation for relations with the PAP. In 2007, the PAP created an ad hoc Committee for relations with the EP. In May 2009, the EP ad hoc delegation became a full inter-parliamentary delegation. European parliamentarians have attended most sessions of the PAP, and African parliamentarians have visited the EP on different occasions.

Shaping the EU-Africa debate
Already at the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon in 2007, the PAP and the EP, together with the Portuguese parliament, a pre-Summit.

The objective was to enhance the visibility of the parliamentary dimension of the EU-Africa relationship. The joint statement of Parliaments invited the Heads of State and Government to include this dimension in the Joint EU-Africa Strategy (JAES) and its Action Plans, and to strengthen African parliaments at national, regional and continental level. The Pre-Summit was attended by 25 parliamentarians from each side, as well as by the then EU Commissioner for Development Louis Michel, African Union Commissioner Julia Joiner and the Foreign Ministers of Ghana and Portugal. On 8 December 2007, PAP President Mongella and EP President Pöttering addressed the African and European leaders at the opening of the Summit.

From Lisbon to Tripoli
In 2009, at the initiative of the EP and the PAP, the Commissions, Presidencies and Parliaments of the EU and the AU discussed their role in the implementation and the monitoring of the Joint Strategy. The outcome was endorsed by the Africa-EU Ministerial Troika in Luxembourg on 28 April 2009.

The agreement foresees in particular that:
• The Parliaments are involved in the preparation of the Africa- EU Summits, and their Presidents address the Heads of State and Government in the opening ceremony
• Parliamentarians meet informally with the participants of the six-monthly Africa-EU Ministerial meetings to discuss issues such as the joint EP-PAP reports on the implementation of the JAES
• Parliamentary representatives participate in the work of the Joint Expert Groups for the thematic partnerships and in the work of the Joint Task Force.

The Parliaments’ role at the technical and political level in the institutional architecture of the JAES provides a significant contribution to strengthen the democratic dimension of the Partnership. This has led to the recognition that special attention needs to be given to capacity building and strengthening of parliaments in Africa.

The next parliamentary Summit
Building on the success of Lisbon, the PAP and the EP havedecided to hold a parliamentary Summit in Tripoli in the run-up of the 3rd Africa-EU Summit.

After having monitored the implementation of the JAES for almost two years, lawmakers from both continents will assess its Action Plan and make recommendations for the future in a message addressed to the Heads of State and Governments.

For more information on the 3rd Africa-EU Summit in Libya, click HERE.

Global Arab Network

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