By IPS Correspondents
BRUSSELS, Nov 16 2006 (IPS)

Europe applies double standards when it comes to good governance as a pre-requisite for growth and poverty reduction, senior African political leaders say.

Governance forms the centrepiece of European Development Days (EDD) November 13 to 17, aimed at enhancing public awareness about the 25-nation European Union’s development cooperation and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

More than 2000 development experts from EU member states, former and current African heads of government and state, officials from developing countries and civil society organisations are participating in a series of events during the EDD.

Inconsistencies in the European Union’s attitude toward countries with “bad governance” were pointed out by several former African heads of state in a roundtable discussion Thursday.

“China is not a democracy, but still you do business with it, a lot of business even, whereas in Africa a country with bad governance is menaced with financial sanctions,” said Karl Auguste Offmann, the former president of Mauritius.

“You can’t expect us to start running when we can hardly walk.”

Recalling his conversation with a Chinese advisor, Benin’s former president Nicéphore D. Soglo said: “In the Chinese tradition, when you cross a river, you make sure that you are on a stable footing before taking a next step. The World Bank and the IMF on the other hand, want us to go in a forced march towards a market economy.”

Even if China was not respecting human rights, its economic development would have a positive impact on social and political problems, Soglo said.

China and Europe have a different agenda in Africa, said Belgian diplomat Alain Rens.

“There is a unilateral side to China’s engagement. They are primarily interested in the natural resources they urgently need. Europe, on the other hand, thinks it shares a common destiny with Africa and that both continents should follow a similar path,” Rens said.

He regretted that the European investments in roads and infrastructure were helping Chinese penetration in Africa.

Giving a more down-to-earth reason for European focus on good governance, former French foreign minister Charles Josselin said: “The people who pay for our development effort, the taxpayers, often have modest incomes. They want to make sure that the rich people in developing countries are contributing as well.”

The international community tends to neglect the consolidation phase after a successful democratic transition, said Pierre Buyoya, former president of conflict-ridden Burundi. “You need a state first, if you are going to build a state based on rule of law,” Buyoya said.

“How can you do this in a country where the policeman and the soldier are not being paid?” he asked. To make things worse, “six months after the elections, our government officials are summoned by the World Bank and the IMF and instructed to repay the debt and cut down on administration.”

Abdou Diouf, secretary-general of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, agreed. “Peace and democracy are priceless, but they have a cost, which must be borne by the international community,” he said, underlining the need for sustained investments in democratic institutions.

Former Mauritius president Offman went a step further: “You should start seeing Africa as a business partner, where you are not going to lose the money you invested.”

Also the civil society organisations in Brussels called into question the focus on governance – though for different reasons. Noting the absence of European parliamentarians, civil society organisations said the EU was “in a bad position” to give lessons in accountability and transparency to developing countries.

“You have to practise what you preach,” said Mikaela Gavas of CONCORD, the European confederation of development NGOs “For example, the European parliament is not involved in the conference. What is the image that we give on transparency and accountability?”

“Give me another date,” said EU official Patrice Lenormand, in charge of organising the event. “We picked this date because there weren’t many other events, but unfortunately the European parliament is having a session in Strasbourg. Some members of parliament have taken this rather badly.”

The conference has been organised in three months with a budget of 1.3 million euros (some 1.7 million dollars), Lenormand told IPS. “The money comes from specific commission budget lines put aside for events, so it is not taken out of development aid,” he said.

European civil society groups say they were not sufficiently involved in the preparatory work. “Only three weeks ago they decided to add a representative from civil society to participate in the thematic roundtable debates,” CONCORD’s Agnes Philippart told IPS.

“We proposed to include a roundtable on the ‘responsibility of donors in good governance’, but they rejected our suggestion,” she said, adding: “I think this is mainly a publicity stunt.”

Lenormand said though the EU is the world’s most important donor it has not had a development conference. “There was a discrepancy between what we do and the visibility of it,” he said.

“Africa currently receives 60 percent of all its development assistance – or 15 billion euros (about 19 billion dollars) annually – from Europe,” said EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso in his opening speech Wednesday.

“Europe’s relationship with Africa has been characterised too often in a context of recipients. But, today, we are starting to work with each other as partners and as neighbours,” he said.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt proposed an annual African-European Summit to institutionalise the political partnership between the two continents. “I think it is inadmissible that the EU has privileged partnerships with the United States, Russia, China, and Latin America, but is not able to apply a similar policy to Africa,” he said.

“It is not the impossible which gives cause for despair, but the failure to achieve the possible,” said EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid.

“Africa is a continent that remains trapped in poverty and distress but it is also a continent full of hope and potential. I am therefore proud that the first edition of the European Development Days will give us an opportunity to work towards a better future for Africans,” said Michel.

The Development Days will be held every year, focussing on one or another aspect of EU’s development policy.

Excerpt: