The European Union and West Africa have taken a step forward in the dialogue on migration policy. This was Minister Paolo Gentiloni’s comment as he announced the signing of the “Rome Declaration” by the 28 countries of the European Union, Switzerland and Norway, and 27 African countries.
Agreement in framework of “Rabat Process”
The agreement can be set in the framework of the Rabat Process initiated in 2006. As Gentiloni explained at the 4th Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development, it rests on 4 main pillars. These are: the migration-development linkage; cooperation between the EU and Africa to prevent illegal immigration; cooperation on legal migration and international protection.
As the foreign minister underscored, “immigration is not just a matter of humanitarian initiatives and border controls. It also involves economic cooperation with the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean”.
27 November – Rabat Process – 4th Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of the Interior hosted the 4th Euro-African Conference on migration and development on 27 November 2014. The conference was organised as part of the “Rabat Process” – a forum for regional dialogue on migration issues between the European Union and the countries of western, central and “Mediterranean” Africa.
First set up in 2006 at the initiative of Spain, France and Morocco, the aim of the Process is to address the challenges posed by migration along the Sub-Saharan Africa-EU routes. The approach is one of shared responsibility by the countries of origin, transit and destination of migration flows. 58 countries are engaged in the Rabat Process (all of the EU member states, Norway, Switzerland and 28 African partner countries, with Algeria as observer).
Migration policies
The Rabat Process conference is one of the key events of the Italian Presidency of the European Council in the field of migration policy. It can be set within a broader framework of events taking place over the same period, which also envisage a joint meeting of the foreign and interior ministers of the EU countries (on the evening of 27 November) and the first Ministerial Conference of the Khartoum Process (28 November). A new forum for migration dialogue with the countries of East Africa, the Khartoum Process was established at the impetus of the Italian Presidency.
Declaration of Rome
During the Conference, a political statement (the Declaration of Rome) will be adopted, along with an annex setting out the “Rome Programme” establishing the Rabat Process’s operational framework for the next three years. Its content corresponds with a 4-pillar global and multi-dimensional strategy: legal migration/mobility; irregular migration and measures to combat the organised crime related to it; the migration-development linkage; and international protection.
The 28 African partner-countries in the Rabat Process
The 28 African partners in the Rabat Process are: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Tunisia.
