Meager Results

Despite leaving the summit with an action plan and promise to meet again in three years instead of a trade agreement, European and African leaders praised the joint summit in Lisbon as the launch of a new alliance.

"Without doubt, this summit is historic, because it represents a milestone in our relationship," the summit's host, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, said in his closing speech. "A partnership has emerged, of two continents looking for a better future and a new era of political dialogue."

Ghana's President John Kufuor, the African Union's current president, agreed the summit had witnessed frank exchanges but on an equal footing.

"The relationship between Europe and Africa has been put on a new platform," Kufuor said. "The two will now begin a new friendship and partnership that should have a very positive impact on the process of globalization."

Second meeting ever

The two-day summit of 26 European and 53 African heads of government held talks on a sweeping range of issues, from energy and climate change to migration, science and security. It was the two sides' first meeting since 2000, and only the second ever.

At the end of the meeting they approved an eight-part agreement setting out how they should cooperate on those issues ahead of the next summit, scheduled to be held in Africa in 2010. Libya has already offered to host that summit.

But the Lisbon meeting was dominated by two issues: the state of democracy in Zimbabwe and a bitter row over trade deals known as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), which have been a bone of contention for over five years.

Merkel, Mugabe exchange barbs

Ahead of the summit, Zimbabwe seemed the more explosive issue. EU leaders have long accused President Robert Mugabe of destroying his country's democracy and economy, and Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown refused to attend the summit because of Mugabe's presence.

On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel accused Mugabe's regime of "damaging the image of the new Africa" in comments echoed by the leaders of Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Mugabe hit back on Sunday, accusing his opponents of being Brown's "spokesmen" and of showing ignorance of Zimbabwe in their speeches, and arrogance in their attitudes.

"Does the German chancellor and the pro-Gordon gang of four really believe they have better knowledge of Zimbabwe than the Southern African Development Community (SADEC) and the African Union?" he asked. "It is this arrogance that we are fighting against."

Trade differences remain

But the second day of talks was dominated by the trade issue. The EU and four African regions have been negotiating for five years on a package of deals -- the EPAs -- which are meant to replace earlier agreements the World Trade Organization (WTO) had ruled illegal.

The WTO had set a deadline for the end of the year for the old deals to be replaced. Several African states have said that the EU is using that as an excuse to force them into unfair deals, and on Sunday they appeared close to walking away from negotiations.

"Let's not talk about the Economic Partnership Agreements! We've said we rejected them -- for us, it's finished," President Maitre Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal told journalists. "When we meet again, we'll discuss things, the EU will present their EPAs, and we will present something else."

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who bears final responsibility for the EU in the talks, quickly pointed out that the EU only wanted to sign interim deals by the end of the year, and that he and colleagues would personally conduct talks on longer-term deals with their African counterparts early in 2008.

Wary of China's growing push into Africa, the European Union has been keen to nail down new trade agreements before the expiration of existing deals at year's end.

Historic mood

"Let's conclude the interim deals first -- it's already almost finished with almost all the countries involved," Barroso said. "The discussion on EPAs will go on. We understand the difficulties that exist when it comes to introducing a new regime: whenever there is change, there's a problem, but we're convinced that the EPAs are a good offer."

The wide-ranging EU-Africa Strategic Partnership, approved at the meeting, sets out a series of eight areas in which the two continents should improve their cooperation, together with a long list of action plans that they are expected to implement by 2010.

Both sides viewed the fact that they had managed to reach agreement on those broad goals, in spite of serious disagreements on individual points, as the most significant outcome of the event.

"The mood created in Lisbon will prove historic, because it marks a radical change," Kufuor concluded.