The President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, delivered today (November 28, 2017) the closing address at the Pan-African Parliament-European Parliament Parliamentary Summit in Abidjan preceding the 5th African Union-EU Summit starting tomorrow.

In his address, President Tajani declared:

“Good governance is only possible on the basis of democracy, and this is embodied by our Parliaments. This is the first message that the President of the Pan African Parliament Nkodo Dang and myself will pass on at tomorrow’s summit. We all agree on the need to put our relations on a more dynamic footing, as our two continents are more interdependent than ever.

Our first aim must be to create jobs in an effort to tackle the population question. This will require huge investment delivered by means of innovative financial instruments which will have a direct impact on ordinary people. Businesses must be encouraged to invest in Africa by means of European economic diplomacy which brings with it know-how and technology transfer, thereby boosting the private sector, SMEs and entrepreneurship.

With regard to respect for human rights, I must condemn the re-emergence of a form of slavery which we have recently seen in Libya. This is unacceptable, and we must not close our eyes to the phenomenon. And not only because we have seen pictures of what is taking place in Tripoli; it is sure to be happening elsewhere.

Tomorrow must mark the beginning of a new relationship between equals. It is our task, as parliamentarians, to carry out our role of exercising scrutiny over the executive, thereby ensuring that the decisions taken are acted upon.”

The participants at the Parliamentary Summit signed a Joint Declaration affirming the important role of National and Trans-National Parliaments in democratisation and cooperation between the EU and African Union and the reciprocal will for a political partnership between the two continents to face common challenges.

Click here for the full speech in French, English and Italian.

Please click on the following link to follow audio-visual coverage of President Tajani’s visit to Côte d’Ivoire.