A Joint Declaration of Civil Society and Youth was presented during the third European Union – African Union Ministerial Meeting, including a mention of cooperatives.
Adopted on 21 May, the declaration features a range of recommendations for the EU and AU around themes like peace, security and governance; energy, transport and digital; migration; and multilateralism.
Cooperatives are mentioned in the second section on ‘Prosperity - energy, transport and digital’, as a tool to unlock Africa’s industrial potential. Specifically, the declaration calls on both the EU and the AU to “accelerate the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), simplify customs and cross-border procedures, and promote corridor infrastructure aligned with regional needs”, acknowledging that “support to SMEs and cooperatives, non-tariff barriers reduction are key.”
The final declaration received inputs from the EU-AU Civil Society and Youth Forum which took place on 20 May 2025, with Melvin Khabenje (ICA Africa) and Marc Noel (ICA Global) in attendance.
The Forum brought together a diverse representation of 85 civil society and youth organisations from Africa and Europe to discuss and make recommendations on the EU-AU Ministerial Agenda, taking place on the next day in Brussels (Belgium) on 21 May 2025.
“The futures of Europe and Africa are tightly interlinked – together, we face many challenges, but the potential for our cooperation is even greater,” said European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela. “We focus on jobs, skills, education, entrepreneurship, digital access, transport and clean energy and we deliver. At the Ministerial [level] we discussed this progress. The report listing the projects we are working on clearly proves that together we are turning our potential into new and real opportunities for businesses and people on both continents, with lasting impact,” he added.
The ICA’s engagement occurred within the framework of the ICA-EU Partnership, #coops4dev🌍. The ICA-EU Partnership (2024-2028) is a five-year international cooperative development programme that aims to strengthen the ICA network and position cooperatives as international development actors in the EU Development Agenda. All information can be found at www.coops4dev.coop.
Photo from the 3rd EU-AU 3rd Ministerial Meeting in Brussels (credit: European Council)
