EU Development Commissioner Admits Failure in Policy in Response to Criticism by African Leaders
November 17, 2006
International Herald Tribune: “African leaders warn EU not to lecture them on democracy”

According to the International Herald Tribune, eighteen African leaders came out and publicly criticized the European Union for their failed economic reform policies that have not eradicated the widespread poverty of the continent.  The leaders cautioned the EU “not to lecture them on democracy,” saying “any future partnership had to be one of equals.”

President Yoweri Museveni told participants in a three-day development conference that the development policies imposed on the west “failed to deliver,” and had actually “led to more misery.”  Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zendawi also criticized European economic aid as a tool to impose democracy from the outside rather than assist in the developmental needs of Africa.  President Festus Mogae echoed fellow African leadership urguing “the EU not to keep pushing a one-size-fits-all aid plan for African nations,” reflecting President Museveni’s statements that aid policies have increased misery and poverty.  Mogae chastised the EU demanding that they do not use their economic leverage to try to create an Africa “in your (the EU’s) image.”

EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel agreed with the outcries of African leaders admitting that “the EU had failed in past decades to properly address poverty in Africa.”  Michel, who served a host of the event, found no fault in the accusations of the Africans, and called EU aid policies “paternalistic” and “neocolonial.”  For years the EU has been on the verbal offensive against African nations for not properly utilizing western aid.

The EU and Africa will continue to work out issues with developmental aid next year at a conference in Portugal.