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Communique of the Steering Committee
on the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the AEC Relating
to the Pan African Parliament, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
28 April 2003
At the initiative of the commission of the African
Union, the Steering Committee (Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon,
Libya, Mali, Rwanda, SADR, South Africa, Tanzania and
Togo) on the protocol to the Treaty establishing the
AEC relating to the Pan African Parliament, met at the
AU Headquarters, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 28 April
2003.
This Committee was established in conformity with the
decision of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government
which met in Durban, South Africa, in July, upon the
proposal of Consultative Meeting of the African Parliaments
which was held in June 2002, Cape Town, South Africa.
The Meeting unanimously elected Dr. Frene Ginwala, Speaker
of the South African Parliament, as Chairperson of the
Steering Committee.
The Committee agreed to work closely with National and
Regional Parliament and other deliberative organs in
Member States, in particular, to coordinates its actions
and initiatives with the African Parliamentary Union
and other parliamentary bodies towards the acceleration
of the process of ratification and operationalization
of the Protocol of the Treaty establishing the AEC relating
to the Pan African Parliament.
The Committee was briefed by Amb. Said Djinnit, Interim
Commissioner for Peace, Security and Political Affairs
of the Commission, on behalf of the interim Chairperson
of the Commission, on the priorities and activities
of the Union during the interim period, in particular,
the progress made in establishing the key organs of
the Union, and the political and socio-economic situation
on the Continent.
Following an exhaustive exchange of views on the ways
and means of accelerating the ratification and operationalization
of the Protocol to the Treaty establishing the AEC relating
to the Pan African Parliament, the Committee agreed
as follows:
Appealed to all member States that had not signed and/or
ratified the Protocol to do so as soon as possible;
The need for the Commission to request Member State
to provide information on their constitutional processed
and procedures for the ratification of treaties and
the current stage of ratification for the Protocol relating
to the Pan African Parliament;
The Permanent Representatives of the AU should be requested
to inform the Commission on a regular basis, on the
progress made in the ratification of the Protocol;
The members of the Steering Committee should work closely
with the existing regional Parliamentary structures,
in particular, the Parliamentary For a of SADC, CEMAC,
UEMOA, ECOWAS, EAP, UMA and IGAD.
The Commission should send the text of all AU Treaties
to National Parliaments for information and appropriate
action.
The Committee exchanged views on the vision of the Pan
African Parliament.
The Committee requested the Commission to bring to the
attention of the 3rd Extra Session of the Executive
Council scheduled for Sun City, South Africa in May
2003, the outcome of this meeting and to urge all Member
States to expedite the signing and/or ratification of
the Protocol.
The Committee agreed to hold it’s second meeting
before the Maputo Summit to assess the process made
and to prepare its report to be submitted to the Summit
in July 2003.
At the end of its deliberations, the Steering Committee
expressed its appreciation to the Commission for the
initiative taken in convening the meeting. The committee
commended the Interim Chairperson of the commission
and all his collaborators for the actions undertaken
during the interim period.
Issued by the AU Headquarters
Addis Ababba
30 April 2003
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