France Commends Ghana' Democracy

France, the new president of the European Union, has commended Ghana for upholding democracy, saying it should be an example of democratic practice for solving the political problem in Zimbabwe.

"We expect Ghana's democratic practice to play a role in finding a solution to the problem in Zimbabwe," French Ambassador to Ghana, Pierre Jacquemot, said in Accra on Wednesday at the launch of France's presidency of the EU.

Answering questions on measures the French EU Presidency will take to address the problems in Zimbabwe, he said the EU expects the African Union to find appropriate solutions, especially when the EU does not consider the presidential re-run which was claimed to have been won by President Mugabe as an "election."

He said the EU was impressed about the level of democracy in Ghana and other African countries, saying Zimbabwe and other countries without democracy should learn from them.

Explaining the French priorities for the six-month rotating EU presidency, Mr Jacquemot said France will be pursuing four priority areas: Immigration, energy, the environment and defence.

Among other things, he said France will push for renewed EU commitment on effective trade between the union and Africa as well as finding a common approach to addressing immigration issues.

In addition, he said, France will play a key role in developing a common climate change and energy package in the EU towards a significant reduction in gas emissions.

France, which took over the presidency from Slovenia, is the fourth largest aid contributor to Ghana. Ghana is expected to receive a total of about $800 million from EU members by the end of the year.

Filiberto Sebregondi, head of the EU delegation in Ghana, touching on the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries and liberalising trade markets of the two parties, said the EPAs are development tool which would benefit both parties.