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Foreign Affairs and Defence

I want to focus on the European Union's relations with Africa in particular, following on from the hon. Member for North Dorset (Mr. Walter) who touched on a number of the issues. Many references have been made to the troubles in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Somalia, and to the role of the EU within a UN context. I want to talk about what the EU is trying to achieve in Africa, despite the problems, because there is a great deal to applaud in its efforts. It is essential that Europe works with Africa, whether on climate change, migration, HIV or terrorism. I do not believe we can help the continent unilaterally. Clearly, working with the EU makes our efforts that much more effective and powerful. As we have seen from this debate, even the EU working as a body can be daunted by the huge obstacles to peace that many of the conflicts pose. The EU-Africa summit held in Lisbon in December last year cemented a new Africa-EU strategic partnership, albeit one overshadowed by the attendance of Robert Mugabe and the subsequent boycott by our Prime Minister. Nevertheless, the summit ended with the signing of a strategic ““political partnership of equals”” which, according to the text, will serve to overcome"““the traditional donor-recipient relationship””" between the EU and Africa. The joint declaration promised co-operation on investment, development, human rights and peacekeeping, and came with an ambitious action plan running to 2010. The plan includes moves towards an Africa-EU energy partnership to promote access to efficient energy services and renewable sources, and a package intended to help the African Union to intervene and prevent likely future conflicts—and Lord knows, there are many conflicts going on there at the moment. Having visited the African Union in Addis Ababa last year to discuss the chaos in Somalia, and with so many conflicts taking place at this time, we know how difficult that will be. Africa and Europe failed to reach agreement on the comprehensive trade deals known as economic partnership agreements. Interim agreements were signed instead, covering trade and goods and leaving out sensitive areas such as opening up developing countries' services and investment markets. I applaud the Foreign Secretary's statement today and welcome his indication that there will be further efforts to get agreement on trade by rejuvenating the Doha round. The EPAs are good for African development because they offer African countries full access to the European market while allowing them to keep up to 20 per cent. of their own markets closed to protect domestic industries, but clearly there is further work to be done to ensure that the interests and concerns of African states are met. There is, however, a new international context. Many of us have looked at Africa from almost—dare I say it?—a neo-colonial viewpoint, but there are many new players in Africa, not just the traditional western nations that have a history of colonisation. The role of China has forced the EU to re-assess its relationship with Africa. Since 2002, African-Chinese trade has increased fivefold to more than $50 billion in 2006. In October 2007, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China paid $5.6 billion for a 20 per cent. stake in Standard bank of Africa—the biggest single investment ever made on the continent. India has also been buying up oil and mineral concessions in such countries as Sudan and Nigeria. In addition, the US wants to take 25 per cent. of its oil supply from Africa to reduce American dependence on middle east resources. As I said, China is set to become Africa's biggest trade partner, overtaking the US in 2010.