Leaders from 53 African countries and 27 European Union nations opened a "summit of equals" in the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon on Saturday, to outline future cooperation and relations between the two continents.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is not attending the meeting as he refuses to sit with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Britain is represented by Baroness Amos, the former International Development Secretary.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (C) Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates (R) and Ghana's President John Kufuor share a laugh on the begining of the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon, Dec. 7, 2007. European and African leaders will seek to forge a fresh partnership to tackle issues like trade, immigration and peacekeeping this week when they hold their first summit in seven years.

The EU's aim at the Lisbon summit is high. It hopes to redefine EU-Africa relations by launching a "strategic partnership" that moves away from a traditional donor-beneficiary relationship.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said in an opening speech that the summit must be a summit of equals.

"We are equal in our human dignity, which transcends any other difference. There are no minor cultures; there are no superior civilizations. We are also equal in terms of our political responsibilities," he said.

Socrates put human rights and migration at the center of a joint strategy prepared for approval at the summit.

Ghanaian President John Kufuor, whose country holds the African Union's presidency, said, however, that it is necessary to correct historical injustice and inhumanity in relations between the two continents.

"For almost 500 years, the relationship between the two continents has not been a happy one," he said at the opening of the summit.

Kufuor asked for commitments to sustained economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation and the recognition of Africa's right to integrate into the world economy in terms of trade, investment and capacity building.

Apart from differences over priorities, the two continents also need to sort out their trade relationship.

The traditional preferential treatments granted by the EU to African, the Caribbean and Pacific nations must be replaced by Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of this year as the former have been declared illegal by the World Trade Organization.

Up to now, however, only 12 African countries have concluded EPAs with the EU. Many African countries fear that the new rules, based on market opening, would lead to a flood of European products.

Other topics on the agenda of the summit are peace and security, climate change and energy.

The leaders are expected to endorse an action plan for the next three years coupled with concrete implementation mechanisms.

A third EU-Africa summit is expected at the end of 2009 in Africa.

(Xinhua News Agency December 9, 2007)