• In the area of African integration the following achievements have been made:

1. Regional Integration gained momentum with strong commitments taken by COMESA-EAC-SADC to align and harmonise their respective Integration Agendas through the Tri-partite process.

2. The 3 regional programmes signed between African regions and EC for the period 2008-2013 represent €1.5 billion: Eastern and Southern Africa (€645m); West Africa (€598 m); SADC (€116 m), Central Africa (€165 m).

3. The African Charter for Statistics was adopted in February 2009 by the Heads of State and Government of the AU. It provides a policy framework and an advocacy tool for statistics in Africa.

4. On regional policies and cross-border cooperation, an AU Border Programme Regional Workshop took place in Ouagadougou on 23-24 April 2009 and similar workshops will take place in Libreville and Windhoek.

• In the area of Infrastructure, the following achievements have been made:

1. EC Vice-President responsible for transport participated in the Feb. 2009 AU Summit infrastructure debate. The engagement between the two continents through the Infrastructure and Energy Partnerships was highlighted in the Summit Declaration. This enhanced engagement will be supported by some €3 billion (10th EDF NIPs).

2. With respect to the Infrastructure Trust Fund, financial contributions from the EDF and 13 EU Member States amount to €165 m in the form of grants; an additional €200 m will be available under the intra-ACP funds. Since it became operational, the Trust Fund has agreed to support 12 regional projects for total grants of €77 m, leveraging a total project financing around €1 bn

• The AU Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture and the European Commissioner for Health launched a high-level conference on the harmonization of sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures. The conference was preceded by a four day training course for African experts on "Better Training for Safer Food Africa". Training activities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is now being implemented in Africa with a total budget of around €10 m (until the end of 2010).