Togo

For some fifteen years the situation in Togo has been marked by a social and political impasse, economic and financial decline, growing poverty, donors' disengagement owing to the lack of democracy, and serious degradation of the environment and natural resources. Over the last two years, however, a clear determination to reverse this trend has emerged.

In April 2004 consultations began between Togo and the European Union under Article 96 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement. In this context the Government has entered into 22 commitments relating to the strengthening of democracy, human rights and respect for fundamental freedoms, in accordance with the principles of good governance.

Over this period political dialogue between Togo and the European Union has been stepped up considerably, as shown by the various missions organised to follow up the 22 commitments.

The national inter-Togolese dialogue initiated on 18 November 2005 by the Head of State in the context of the 22 commitments enabled the progress made to be consolidated, leading to the signing on 20 August 2006 of a Global Political Agreement between the Government, the political parties and civil society. A Government of National Unity was established whose main task was to organise general elections which were finally held on 14 October 2007. These elections were judged to be generally satisfactory by the European Union's observation mission and their results were accepted by all the parties apart from the UFC, which continues to denounce results that are disproportionate in relation to the number of votes which it obtained. On the basis of this judgment, the European Union decided to cancel the relevant measures for good and to abrogate the decision concluding the consultation procedure with Togo under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement. The EC's strategic cooperation choices are directly related to Togo's political, economic and social situation, its development strategy, the objectives of EU development cooperation, the EC's comparative advantages and complementarity with actions carried out by other donors.

In view of the historical background to political life in Togo and its impact on its people and on economic activity, it is important to maintain momentum as regards support for good governance and the rule of law through specific actions in these fields involving civil society and the legislature. This will help to rebuild the trust of Togo's people and its external partners and to lay the foundation for democratic and economic resurgence.

The first sector on which aid is to be concentrated will cover governance and support for economic and institutional reforms. The main objectives are to strengthen the rule of law and democracy (elections are set to take place during the period covered by the 10th EDF) and respect for basic freedoms as covered by the 22 commitments with the EU: support for justice reform, support for electoral processes, including support for a reform of the security sector. Institutional support for administrative bodies and the management of public finance will help to back up institutional reform.

The second sector on which aid is to be concentrated will cover support for economic resurgence through infrastructural support. The main objectives will be integration into the regional economy through improved interconnection of transport infrastructure, improved efficiency of the road infrastructure subsector, with a particular emphasis on the rehabilitation and regular maintenance of the roads, the improvement of living conditions and the environment through the rehabilitation and construction of hygiene and sanitation infrastructure, and the fight against unemployment through the use of labour-intensive technology.

Macroeconomic support will enable Togo to normalise its relations with the international financial community, particularly the EIB and the IMF, so that it can benefit from the relief of its external debt under the HIPC and MDRI initiatives. After this, depending on how the situation develops, budgetary support can be envisaged to help restore macroeconomic balance and strengthen the management of public finance.

Finally, Commission operations under the 10th EDF will include support for civil society initiatives.