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EU Committee: EU and Africa

My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have contributed to this afternoon's debate. I hope that all who have listened to it and participated felt that the report contributed to enabling that sensible discussion. The noble Lord, Lord Hughes of Woodside, and the noble Baroness, Lady D'Souza, referred to Zimbabwe, which is, of course, a continuing tragedy, not only for the country as a whole but the people living there. I make it clear to the noble Lord, Lord Hughes, that the committee made no suggestion that assistance to the African Union should somehow be linked to progress in Zimbabwe. I refer him to paragraph 409, which refers to the relative failure of the African Union to respond robustly—which, I think, was a legitimate criticism—and to other paragraphs, especially paragraphs 410, 412 and 414, in which we recognise the progress in Africa that the African Union represents; state that the European Union should support the African Union’s efforts to rationalise its internal functions; and state that budgetary assistance to the African Union should take account of the level of support provided by the African Union countries themselves. I think that it is fair to say that we have managed to decouple the very important issue of Zimbabwe from support for and work with the African Union. The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, rightly made the point that Zimbabwe as an issue cannot be allowed to derail the whole process. He also made the point that if the European Union does not take up the issue, no one else will. Given our interest in Africa, we should be very supportive of that strategy, because we certainly cannot do it alone. I am grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, for her response to many questions raised. The noble Lords, Lord Lea and Lord Chidgey, referred to China. We look with interest to see how that will develop. To the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, I say that we in the European Union Committee produced an earlier report on European development aid in which we recognise, as we do in this report, that considerable progress has been made, although the Commission itself honestly recognised the difficulty in delivering on the ground. That is clearly an area in which there is enormous work to be done if recipients are not to have to deal with a multiplicity of donors with different rules. I also say to the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, that we made a nod towards different methods of financing in the report. In recommendation 469, we stated that it was essential that the European Union, through its member states, encouraged international finance institutions and the OECD to take account of development and security needs in Africa. The Minister has already referred to the partnership and infrastructure paper that came out in July, and to the involvement of the EIB with loans. I am particularly grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Chalker, for her contribution from the Conservative Front Bench. Her phrase ““the decade of delivery”” very much summarises what we are trying to say in the report. It was clear from the start thatthe strategy was a beginning, and that many of the proposals had to be fleshed out. It is clear from the Commission’s and Council’s joint paper, to which I referred, that it is being taken forward and that the whole business of coherence, co-operation and co-ordination is being taken very seriously. I am grateful to my colleagues on the sub-committee for their kind remarks about my chairmanship. Although another report is pending—it was published during my term, so I cannot say that this is necessarily the last time I will speak on behalf of the sub-committee—it is nevertheless an opportunity for me to thank all Members who have supported me as chairman of the sub-committee over the past three Sessions, as well as the Clerks of the European Union Select Committee, their staff, and our past and present sub-committee advisers, Pamela Strigo and Oliver Fox. I also thank our Clerks, originally Audrey Nelson, and, for the past two years, Emily Baldock: I have been particularly grateful for their support and help, without which I would not have been in the position to receive thanks from anyone. On Question, Motion agreed to.