German Chancellor Angela Merkel (Left) and former African Union
Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma at a past EU function.
FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- The Treaty of Rome laid out the blueprint for the creation of the world’s largest single market.
- The EU, for all of its troubles, has generally been a progressive partner to Africa, especially with respect to the establishment of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy.
- The growth of the EU-Africa partnership since 2000 — outside of EU-ACP channels — has broadened the relationship into less traditional areas such as science and technology.
The signing of the Treaty of Rome, which
established the European Economic Community (EEC) 60 years ago in March
1957, came at a tumultuous time in relations between Europe and Africa.
Just
weeks earlier Kwame Nkrumah had declared Ghana a republic, an event
which was a turning point in the decolonisation of sub-Saharan Africa.
Nkrumah remarked that the treaty’s inclusion of colonial territories was
to neocolonialism what the Berlin Treaty of 1885 had been to
colonialism.
He had a point. Two of the six founding
members of the EEC — Belgium and France — still held substantial
colonial interests on the continent. Accession to the community thus
posed the crucial question of what to do about them.
The question became contentious enough to threaten the collapse of the entire Treaty of Rome negotiation process. The other four members of the EEC were Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The question became contentious enough to threaten the collapse of the entire Treaty of Rome negotiation process. The other four members of the EEC were Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
France
in particular was steadfast that its colonies be “associated” with the
community. The French argument ultimately won, albeit with some
compromises. The treaty’s association agreement would last five years
and the preferences France enjoyed from its colonies would be gradually
expanded to the rest of the EEC.
The agreement served
as the originator of Europe’s subsequent relationship with the African,
Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). So this 60th anniversary is
not just about Europe. The treaty created a framework for multilateral
relations between Europe and Africa.
The principles of
trade and aid enshrined in the treaty’s association agreement form the
basis of Europe’s development agenda in Africa to this day, even though
relations have expanded into many more areas.
The
Treaty of Rome laid out the blueprint for the creation of the world’s
largest single market. It also contributed to the post World War II
process of co-operation and reconciliation in Europe. The EU, for all of
its troubles, has generally been a progressive partner to Africa,
especially with respect to the establishment of the Joint Africa-EU
Strategy and the unique programming efforts it has generated.
This of course does not negate instances of
neocolonialism, nor the damage done by the clumsy promotion of
the European Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
The Africa
of today is not the Africa of 1957. The African Union is also a more
robust partner than its predecessor, the Organisation of Africa Unity.
Back in 1957, the Treaty of Rome laid down the twin principles of
EU-Africa relations throughout the 20th century and beyond: trade and
aid. These principles were framed within the larger idea of development
cooperation.
An overseas development fund was also
created, with all six EEC members contributing to it. Controversially,
the agreement served to perpetuate African dependency on Europe.
The twin principle
This
contradictory relationship between dependency and progressive thinking
has made Africans understandably circumspect. What next for Europe and
Africa?
The twin principles of trade and aid still
exist. But the growth of the EU-Africa partnership since 2000 — outside
of EU-ACP channels — has broadened the relationship into less
traditional areas such as science and technology, higher education,
private investment, infrastructure and continental integration.
But Kwame Nkurumah’s 1957 criticism is still being levied at the EU today for its alleged neocolonial promotion of the EPAs.
Pundits in East and Central Africa have been vociferous in their opposition to the agreements.
However,
EU officials have a dramatically different interpretation. The EU
Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development described the
2016 EPAs with six Southern African Development Community (SADC)
members as helping to tap the economic potential of the private sector
and increase trade.
With such contrasting perceptions,
it is perhaps unsurprising that SADC is the only regional body to have
signed an EPAs with the EU despite more than 10 years of negotiation.
What is crucial is that both sides recognise how far they have come since the Treaty of Rome.
And that they accept that a more equitable partnership requires continued commitment to cooperation.
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