The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Joint Africa/EU Tripoli Declaration of 30 November 2010,

–   having regard to Africa’s trade preferences through AGOA and trade partnership China-Africa,

–   having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the Tripoli Declaration embodies the will of the different leaders to consolidate the strategic partnership established three years ago between the two continents to meet common challenges together and promote growth to the advantage of all those in Africa, as well as in Europe,

B.  whereas EU/Africa leaders set out this political declaration within a three-year action plan (2010-2013) for giving concrete substance to the priorities identified, such as peace and security, democracy and human rights, trade and infrastructure, energy, immigration and employment,

C. whereas poverty eradication remains at the heart of the joint Africa-EU Declaration which addresses the structural causes of poverty in the light of recent crises including climate change, soaring food and oil prices and financial crisis,

D. whereas both the private sector and civil society, particularly from Africa, could be allowed to make a far more effective contribution to the strategy than has been the case to date,

E.  whereas food security is the basis for all development and yet over a quarter of Africans are undernourished,

F.  whereas building productive capacities, supply-side capacity development, value addition and export diversification, as well as infrastructure linking neighbouring countries while facilitating trade will bring competitiveness of Africa at region and international level,

G. whereas fostering trade and encouraging business offers a sustainable route out of the vicious circle of poverty,

H. whereas corruption and poor governance seriously undermine any gains made in terms of development,

I.   whereas illicit capital flight and tax evasion cost African nations billions of dollars each year in lost revenues,

J.   whereas Africa’s share of world trade has dropped to 3% from around 6% - 25 years ago,

K. whereas the lack of foreign investment in Africa remains a real problem,

L.  whereas the contribution of intra-African trade to Africa’s aggregate trade performance is the lowest compared to other regions,

M. whereas in trade there are still differences on economic partnership agreements (EPAs), and everything possible must be done to conclude them bearing in mind the low level of production capacities of African countries- the development outcome should also be at the centre of the future outcome of the Doha Round,

N. whereas the Tripoli Declaration reaffirmed EU’s commitment to increasing its aid spending to reach the collective target of 0.7% of Gross National Income by 2015,

O. whereas at the start of the EU-Africa summit, Libyan Moammar Gadhafi has urged more EU support for African countries to tackle illegal migration to Europe,

P.  whereas EU remains the leading provider of global official development aid and the biggest donor to Africa,

1.  Welcomes the effective launch of this ambitious continent-to-continent strategy over the past three years and calls for rapid implementation of the Tripoli Declaration as the time is now ripe for the strategy to produce tangible results and genuine added value;

2.  Welcomes the leadership of African Union and its initiatives towards enhanced integration and improved sustainable development of the African continent; recognizes also the important dimension of regional integration for growth and development and stresses in particular the commitment of the Tripoli Declaration to make the African Peace and Security Architecture fully operational in close collaboration with the regional organizations;

3.  Welcomes the systematic and effective involvement of the private sector and of African national parliaments and civil society in the strategy; stresses that business-friendly policies attract private investment if corruption is banned, the rule of law respected and transparency valued;

4.  Urges African and EU leaders to honour the Tripoli commitment and to use the strategy as a tool to boost intra-continental African trade, including upgraded support packages for the regional economic communities and for improving infrastructures across the African continent; expects the EU to uphold its aid-for-trade commitments; stresses that all aspects of the Africa-EU trade relationship must take into account weaker economic and negotiating capacity on the African side;

5.  Urges African and EU leaders, through the strategy, to ensure greater access to credit and financial services in Africa;

6.  Exhorts African and EU leaders to use the strategy jointly to champion the fight against illicit capital flight and tax evasion, to promote full transparency and country-by-country reporting and to step up international pressure on all jurisdictions that might allow tax avoidance or evasion in developing countries;

7.  Urges African and EU leaders, through the strategy, to ensure micro credit access to small business and transparent financial services in Africa and address tax-related aspect of development by putting in place effective and viable tax systems in Africa in order to ensure sustainable source of development financing;

8.  Welcomes that the Africa-EU joint commitment to founding principles which include respect for human rights, democratic principles, rule of law and the condemnation of all forms of terrorism;

9.  Welcomes ambitious joint positions on the international stage, i.e. as regards climate change, the fight against terrorism, migration, global trade agreements, both EU and African representation in global institutions, and to use the strategic partnership to foster consensus on issues of mutual interest;

10. Stresses the importance to guarantee food security throughout Africa and underlines the need to reinforce the agricultural and fisheries sectors in Africa, in a sustainable way, especially as regards smallholder farmers;

11. Believes that renewable energy is vital for the economic and social development of Africa and stresses President Barroso’s call for an energetic green revolution in Africa;

12. Underlines that particular attention should be given to reducing Africa’s dependency on fossil fuels and decreasing their vulnerability to price rises;

13. Stresses the importance of policy coherence for development as guiding principle of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, particularly between policies on trade, development, agriculture, fisheries and sustainable use of natural resources;

14. Stresses European Council President Herman Van Rompuy’s call on African leaders to support the ICC and ‘fully subscribe to the principle of the fight against impunity’;

15. Stresses that conflict prevention policy is an essential precondition for lasting peace and welcomes AU/EU commitment to address the structural causes of conflicts in particular to tackle the post referendum issues in South-Sudan;

16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission, the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and candidate countries, the African Union institutions including the Pan-African Parliament, the UN Secretary-General, the Secretary General of the SADC and the governments of the States represented at the EU-Africa Summit.