Brussels, 05/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The formal adoption of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) envelope for 2014-2020 and trade issues (particularly the painstaking negotiations of the economic partnership agreements, EPA), will dominate the ministerial meeting of the 79 ACP countries and the 27 EU member states in Brussels on 6-7 June.
The EU and ACP partners, linked by the Cotonou Agreement, will also debate immigration issues and the overall framework for the post-2015 development goals.
ACP ministers met up on Wednesday 5 June in Brussels to prepare their position for this joint ACP-EU Council, which will be co-chaired by Phandu T.C. Skelemani, the minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation of Botswana - currently chairing the Council of Ministers of the ACP - and Joe Costello, the Irish minister for trade and development and current president of the EU Development Council. Andris Piebalgs, the European commissioner for development and his fellow commissioner Karel De Gucht, responsible for trade, will represent the European Commission.
11th EDF. The Council will finalise the €31.5 billion offer over seven years (€29 billion in contributions from EU member states, according to a distribution key that is supposed to be aligned on the distribution key for EU budget contributions, and €2.5 billion from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for subsidised loans) agreed on 28 May last by the EU at the Foreign Affairs Council, meeting in its development formation, and will formally adopt this new financial protocol for the Cotonou Agreement for the next seven years (see EUROPE 10855).
Trade. The Council will take stock of progress in negotiations on conclusion and ratification of the EPA between the EU and ACP group regions. So far, the only complete EPA concluded is the one between the EU and Cariforum. Eight ACP countries that are not among the LDCs and which have not ratified the EPA have been warned by the EU to do so before October 2014, failing which, they will lose their duty- and quota-free access rights to the European market. Trade cooperation on certain basic products, such as sugar, will also be discussed, given the concerns of ACP countries in this regard.
Migration. The Council will hold a discussion on migration and development as part of the political dialogue on the subject included in the Cotonou Agreement provisions.
Somalia. The Council will examine Somalia's request to join the Cotonou Agreement.
Post-2015 development goals. Ministers will discuss the future framework for the development goals after 2015 (the expiry date of the Millennium Goals drawn up in 2000) on which the UN has just published a report.
Support for the private sector: The Council will hold an exchange of views on EU support for private sector development in ACP countries. (AN/transl.fl)