My travel to Ethiopia: African Union and EU meet to address shared challenges - Main contents
I attended a meeting between the African Union Commission and the European Commission in Africa's political capital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the biggest Africa-EU political meeting of the year. This event symbolises strong cooperation and partnership between our two organisations, both driving forces for regional integration in Europe and Africa.
The meeting between the African Union Commission and the European Commission took place in Addis Ababa, which is Africa’s political capital. The two Commissions work together as the engine of EU-Africa relations, collaborating on tackling challenges that the two continents are facing together. We have discussed key themes, such as migration, peace, security and sustainable growth.
Europe and Africa are long standing and close partners, and we share many similar goals and challenges. Sadly, terror has targeted both continents, and we both deal with unprecedented migration challenges. We also have a common interest in fostering growth and creating new opportunities for the youth. As said by High Representative and Vice President Federica Mogherini, our present and future bind us together.
Cooperation between EU and African Union will grow only stronger. I am pleased to see that relations between the two continents are also seen in the transport sector. Currently, we are focusing our cooperation on aviation and maritime safety and security - two very important topics, given the recent political situation in the world. I have also spoken about environment and climate change, which is affecting not only the two continents, but the whole world. Through the cooperation with Africa it can be easier to reach an agreement with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on environmental pledges, which were set on the last year’s Paris conference on climate change. We both committed to support the implementation of these pledges and look forward to cooperating on COP22 in November 2016 in Marrakesh, Morocco.
We concluded that regional and continental integration is an engine for inclusive growth and sustainable development both in EU and Africa. The EU and Africa should jointly tackle global problems such as climate change, irregular migration, environmental issues, terrorism and transnational crime as well as illegal financial flows. If we communicate complementary positions, our voices will have greater impact. My visit to Ethiopia may have been short - it has lasted only 18 hours - however it has lead to many positive outcomes and great commitments for the future.
Potovanje v Etiopijo: srečanje Afriške unije in EU
V Addis Ababi, politični prestolici Afrike, sem se udeležila srečanja predstavnikov komisije Afriške unije in Evropske komisije. Gre za letošnje največje politično srečanje Afrike in EU. Dogodek potrjuje dobro sodelovanje med dvema organizacijama, ki sta, vsaka na svoji celini, vodilni pobudnici regijske integracije. Komisiji sodelujeta pri soočanju z izzivi, ki zadevajo obe celini. Na srečanju v Etiopiji smo razpravljali o perečih temah, kot so migracije, mir, stabilnost in trajnostni razvoj.
Evropa in Afrika sta dolgotrajni partnerici, ki si delita veliko skupnih ciljev in izzivov. Na žalost so v zadnjem času obe celini prizadela teroristična dejanja. Tako Afrika, kot Evropa se soočata z velikimi migracijskimi izzivi. Podobno si Afrika in EU prizadevata za pospeševanje gospodarske rasti in ustvarjanje novih delovnih mest za mlade. Kot je dejala podpredsednica in visoka predstavnica EU za zunanje zadeve in varnostno politiko Federica Mogherini, nas povezujeta tako preteklost kot prihodnost.
Sodelovanje med EU in Afriko bo vedno pomembnejše. Veseli me, da obe celini sodelujeta tudi na področju prometa. Tukaj se skupaj z Afriško unijo najbolj posvečamo varnosti v letalskem in pomorskem prometu - kar sta, glede na trenutno politično situacijo v svetu, zelo pomembni temi.
Prav tako sem v Addis Ababi govorila o varovanju okolja in podnebnih spremembah, ki grozijo ne le dvema celinama, temveč celemu svetu. Na tem področju je sodelovanje z Afriko zelo pomembno, saj lahko skupaj v Mednarodni pomorski organizaciji (IMO) in mednarodni organizaciji za civilno letalstvo (ICAO) hitreje dosežemo zaveze o varovanju okolja, ki smo jih lani sprejeli na konferenci o podnebnih spremembah v Parizu. Evropska komisija in komisija Afriške unije sta se zavzeli, da skupaj podpreta izvajanje teh zavez, ter da sodelujeta pri pripravi na naslednjo podnebno konferenco COP22, ki jo bo novembra 2016 gostil Maroko.
Srečanje smo zaključili s poudarkom, da je regijska in celinska integracija vodilo razvoja in trajnostne rasti tako Evrope kot Afrike. EU in Afriška unija morata skupaj reševati globalne probleme, kot so podnebne spremembe, okoljska problematika, terorizem, mednarodni kriminal in nezakoniti denarni tokovi. Če jasno poudarimo skupen interes, bo naš glas v svetu bolje slišan. Obisk Etiopije je morda bil kratek - trajal je le 18 ur - a vendar je prinesel ogromno pozitivih zaključkov in priložnosti za prihodnje sodelovanje.
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