By Robert Johnson
BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Barbados, an eastern Caribbean island, will host a private sector consultation on the post-Cotonou agreement on November 1-2, 2018 with a view to producing an African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) private sector declaration as inputs to the ACP technical negotiating team.
The Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union (EU) and the ACP that was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin’s largest city. It entered into force in 2003 and was subsequently revised in 2005 and 2010. The current agreement expires in 2020.
It is regarded as the most comprehensive partnership agreement between developing countries and the EU and in 2010, ACP-EU cooperation has been adapted to new challenges such as climate change, food security, regional integration, state fragility and aid effectiveness.
The fundamental principles of the Cotonou Agreement include equality of partners, global participation, dialogue and regionalisation. The agreement is re-examined every five years.
The first round of negotiations for the post-2020 EU-ACP agreement was kicked off on October 18 at the ACP House in Brussels. The ACP's chief negotiator, Professor Robert Dussey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration from Togo was present for this important occasion.
On the side of the European Union, their chief negotiator is Mr Stefano Manervisi, Director General of International Cooperation and Development at the European Commission. There are already several points of convergence between the ACP and the EU, and the EU is hoping to finalise negotiations by July 2019.
Article 95 of the Cotonou Agreement requires partners to enter into negotiations at least 18 months before the expiry of the current deal.
"Against this backdrop, an ACP private sector consultation on the post-Cotonou negotiations is being organized by the ACP Secretariat with the support of Business ACP and ACP private sector organizations with the intended outcome of producing an ACP private sector declaration/position as inputs to be made available to the ACP technical negotiating team on post-Cotonou," official sources said.
They pointed out that the objectives of the November 1-2 meeting are to inform the ACP private sector on post-Cotonou negotiation process and issues; to develop a private sector position on the future relationship among the ACP States as well as to input and issue an ACP private sector position on the post-Cotonou negotiations and to officially launch the 'ACP Business Forum'.
The ACP Business Forum will also interact with counterpart organizations in Europe and elsewhere with the objective of promoting dialogue, trade, investment and partnerships for the industrialization of ACP regions and countries. Ultimately, it is envisaged that an ACP Business Council be created, the sources said.
The ACP Secretariat, with the technical assistance of Business ACP, will support the launching of the ACP Business Forum which will be a platform to facilitate dialogue among and bring together the ACP private sector, they added.
The Assistant Secretary-General of the ACP Group, Sustainable Economic Development and Trade Department, Viwanou Gnassounou will be among the speakers at the opening ceremony on November 1.
On October 16, two days ahead of the start of the first round of post-Cotonou negotiations, ACP Chief Negotiator Professor Robert Dussey underlined that for more than four decades, the ACP-EU partnership has been steadily deepening and broadening.
The successive Lomé Conventions and the Cotonou Partnership Agreement have been important instruments in supporting ACP States' efforts to address various challenges in the pursuit and maintenance of people-centred development.
Under the negotiations for a post-Cotonou partnership agreement, taking place in a fast-moving 21st century of technological change, the ACP States will strive for a modern, adaptable and responsive agreement that will contribute to accelerating the transformation of their economies.
The expiry of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020 offers both sides an exceptional opportunity to modernise their relations so that they are in line with current and new realities, noted Dussey. "The new partnership should enable the ACP Group and the EU to refine their approaches to national and regional issues together and define their capacity to work together towards a stable and progressive international environment that leaves no one on the side."
The ACP Group is working to ensure that the objective of the new agreement is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in all ACP countries through a strengthened and deepened economic and political partnership, as well as to position the Group as a more effective actor on the international stage.
This will require alignment with the development agenda for 2030 and the SDGs, which will provide the overall framework, taking due account of United Nations conferences and summits, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development, continental and regional programmes, such as the African Union's Agenda 2063, and the deepening and broadening of regional integration in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The official opening of the negotiations took place in New York on September 28, 2018 on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. "It was a symbolic event. We have demonstrated our determination to work together and cooperate in finding solutions to the global problems affecting our countries, not only the ACP States but also those of the European Union. Such cooperation is more than necessary at a time when we are making concerted efforts to combat the growing negative attitude towards multilateralism." Duessey added.
The ACP Group has established a negotiating structure chaired by Ambassadors, both for the central negotiating group and the technical negotiating teams. This structure is based on the principle of inclusiveness, as all ACP regions participate in this member-driven process. The central negotiating group is chaired by Togo, with Guyana and Papua New Guinea as Vice-Presidents. The technical negotiating teams responsible for discussions on the strategic pillars of the ACP Mandate are chaired by Trinidad and Tobago, Samoa and Zimbabwe. [IDN-InDepthNews – 30 October 2018]
Photo: ACP chief negotiator Professor Robert Dussey, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration from Togo addressing a press conference in Brussels. On the left is ACP Secretary-General Dr Patrick I Gomes.
This report is part of a joint project of the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States and IDN, flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.
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