Second EU-Africa Summit, Lisbon 8-9/12/2007

With the first Summit taking place in Cairo in 2000, on 8-9 December 2007, the second Summit between the EU and Africa is held in Lisbon. The Summit concluded with the adoption of the Lisbon Declaration. This Declaration, approved by the Heads of State and Government of 57 African countries and 27 EU member states, lays the foundation for the new equal strategic partnership between Africa and the EU. This declaration, which includes the vision and commitments of the partnership, was adopted simultaneously with the first Joint EU-Africa Strategy and its first three-year Action Plan for the period 2008-2010.
The objectives of the Joint Strategy focus on the following:
To go beyond the framework of simple development cooperation by initiating dialogue on common political concerns and issues of mutual interest such as trade and employment;
To go beyond the framework of the African continent by moving past the traditional focus on purely African development issues, towards effectively addressing global challenges such as migration, climate change, peace and security, as well as strengthening cooperation in international forums;
To support African aspirations in finding inter-regional and continental responses to some of the most significant challenges as mentioned above;
To make an effort towards a people-centered partnership, ensuring better participation of African and European citizens.
Based on these common principles, the first Action Plan for implementing the EU-Africa strategic partnership includes the following priority actions around eight specific areas of cooperation: peace and security – democratic governance and human rights – trade, regional integration and infrastructure – achieving the Millennium Development Goals – energy – climate change – migration, mobility and employment – science, information society and space.
The Joint EU-Africa Strategy adopted in 2007 is the official channel for EU relations with African countries. This strategy was agreed upon by the African Union and EU institutions, as well as by African and EU countries. It is implemented through periodic action plans.