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R 191504Z DEC 07
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INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
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RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 003524 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR AF/FO THOMAS-GREENFIELD AND SWAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL AF EU EUN
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR U.S.-EU TROIKA MEETING ON AFRICA 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: As you meet with EU officials for the 
biannual Africa troika Dec. 20, you will find the EU feeling 
very positive about its relations with Africa in the wake of 
its recent EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon.  A shadow, however, is 
cast by the troubled EUFOR Mission to Chad/CAR, whose 
deployment has been delayed, perhaps indefinitely, by member 
states' failure to commit key resources.  The Council 
Secretariat is in the midst of a leadership change with the 
 
SIPDIS 
recent appointment of its Africa Task Force head Koen 
Vervaeke to lead the new EU Delegation to the African Union 
(AU).  On policy issues, the EU and U.S. are largely on the 
same page, with the exception of Ethiopia and Eritrea where 
the EU believes we are too supportive of Ethiopia and too 
hard on Eritrea.  End Summary. 
 
EU-Africa Summit 
---------------- 
¶2. (U) The EU, and the Portuguese Presidency in particular, 
are extremely pleased with the Dec. 8-9 EU-Africa Summit that 
brought together some 100 heads of state and ministers from 
Africa and Europe.  The DRC's Kabila was one of the only 
prominent African leaders who didn't attend.  Despite all the 
fuss about Mugabe's participation, the EU is happy with the 
way it handled and addressed his presence.  Chancellor Merkel 
criticized Zimbabwe's economic management as well as its 
human rights and governance record on Dec. 8, the opening day 
of the Summit.  Mugabe did not respond until the following 
morning, starting out reasonably enough but soon digressing 
into anti-Western rhetoric, according to those present.  As 
determined by the EU prior to the Summit, High Representative 
Javier Solana responded on behalf of the EU, noting the 
paradox of Zimbabwe's economic ruin in the midst of a 
prosperous Southern African region.  During the plenary 
session, when each country was allowed to speak on topics of 
its choosing, the Netherlands and Sweden mentioned Zimbabwe, 
but no other EU states did. 
 
¶3. (U) One issue that was not resolved prior to the Summit, 
despite the best efforts of the EU, was the conclusion of 
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with each African 
state.  Many African countries have refused to sign new 
agreements because they will lose preferential trade benefits 
as a result of a WTO ruling.  The old agreements expire Dec. 
31, and the EU will likely have to negotiate interim 
agreements with many countries until new agreements can be 
negotiated. 
 
¶4. (U) The Summit approved a Joint EU-Africa Strategy and 
ambitious multi-year action plan for implementation. 
Scratching below the surface, however, the Joint Strategy 
differs little from the EU Africa Strategy (minus the 
"joint") adopted by the EU in 2005.  The new strategy calls 
for the EU to negotiate with Africa as a whole, through the 
AU, instead of bilaterally with each country.  In reality, 
many question the capacity and authority of the AU to 
negotiate for all its member states.  Koen Vervaeke, current 
head of the Africa Task Force at the Council Secretariat, was 
recently named to head the EU's new office in Addis to 
conduct relations with the AU.  Vervaeke, in one of the first 
manifestations of the new EU Reform Treaty, will carry out a 
hybrid Commission-Council role as both the EU Special 
Representative to the AU, reporting to Solana, and the Head 
of Delegation, reporting to Commissioner Louis Michel. 
 
EU Mission to Chad/CAR in doubt 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The EUFOR mission to Chad/CAR, which was set to deploy 
before Christmas, has been delayed because member states have 
not committed key resources, such as helicopters.  France, 
which proposed and promoted the idea, is willing to put forth 
at least half the 3,000-4,000 troops, but does not want it to 
be solely a French mission.  A few EU member states have 
committed small numbers of troops, but the two big powers - 
U.K. and Germany - have not, and that is proving to be an 
unresolved political obstacle at the moment. 
 
Sudan/Darfur 
------------ 
¶6. (SBU) The only formal meeting the EU held on the margins 
of the Summit was an EU troika meeting (Solana, Barroso, 
Socrates and Michel) with President Bashir.  The EU pressed 
Bashir to accept UNAMID forces, implement the Comprehensive 
Peace Agreement (CPA), and work with rebel groups to find a 
solution for Darfur, according to EU contacts.  Bashir agreed 
to consider the EU's requests, but made no commitments.  EU 
policy on Sudan is largelyin line with U.S. policy and 
includes timely eployment of UNAMID, negotiations between 
 
BRUSSELS 00003524  002 OF 002 
 
 
rebel groups and the GOS, and full implementation of the CPA. 
 In other meetings on the Summit margins, Solana met with 
Presidents Meles and Deby and AU Commissioner Konare. 
President Sarkozy met with Presidents Kagame and Gbagbo, and 
Commissioner Michel met "with everybody," according to 
Vervaeke. 
 
Horn of Africa 
-------------- 
¶7. (SBU) On Somalia, the EU is encouraged by the appointment 
of a new Prime Minister and hopes this will be a political 
opening from which to move forward discussions about 
elections and a new constitution.  The EU often questions our 
views of President Isaias, and continues to advocate 
engagement of Eritrea as the best path to stability in the 
Horn of Africa.  On the Ethiopia/Eritrea border issue, the 
EU, through Portugal, was prepared to issue a statement at 
the very end of November urging the Boundary Commission to 
continue, but backed down after we pointed out that Ethiopia 
did not want the Commission to continue.  There has been no 
further action on a statement by either the EU or the 
Witnesses. 
 
Zimbabwe 
-------- 
¶8. (U) The EU sent Jean-Christophe Belliard, political 
advisor in the Council Secretariat's Africa Task Force, to 
Addis and Southern Africa in late November as an ad hoc 
emissary on Zimbabwe.  He did not go to Zimbabwe, deciding 
that would be counterproductive, but instead visited the AU 
in Addis, as well as SADC officials in Botswana and Pretoria 
to express the EU's willingness to support democratic 
elections in Zimbabwe.  Belliard was sent at the insistence 
of the UK prior to the EU-Africa Summit, and it is unclear 
whether he will continue in that role now that the summit has 
concluded. 
 
Participation 
------------- 
¶9. (SBU) Portugal expressed many times how much they wanted 
this troika meeting to be chaired by A/S Frazer, but still 
planned to send their Africa Director to the meeting.  The 
Council Secretariat will be represented by Andreas 
Fischer-Barnicol, who until recently handled the Great Lakes. 
 He was slated to leave in November on a six-month TDY to 
Chad as a POLAD to the EUFOR Commander, but his deployment 
has been delayed along with EUFOR's deployment.  The 
Commission will be represented by its delegation in 
Washington. 
MURRAY 
.