Brussels, 19/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Trade relations, migratory issues, development strategies and financing development between partners linked by the Cotonou Agreement are the issues on the agenda of the joint ACP-EU Council bringing together ministers from the 79 ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) states and their EU partners in Nairobi (Kenya) for two days on 19-20 June. Trade cooperation on specific products such as cotton and sugar will be addressed, but this session will also provide the opportunity to take stock of the economic partnership agreements. Immigration, and particularly visas, the transfer of funds and readmission of migrants will also be a focus of ministers' attention - as will global issues such as the fight against climate change and the post-2015 development programme in the context of the international negotiations at the UN.
Signing national indicative programmes with 16 ACP countries. On the sidelines of this ministerial session, European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs and the ministers from each of 16 ACP countries will co-sign the first national indicative programmes under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for 2014-2020, announced the European Commission on Thursday 19 June.
“This signing of national indicative programmes with 16 partner countries, at the EU-ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) Joint Council of Ministers in Kenya, marks the official go-ahead for the future of EU aid in these countries. These documents lay down the priorities for our joint work for the next seven years and will allow us to move ahead with the concrete preparations of our projects and programmes”, Piebalgs states in a press release.
Next ACP summit in Surinam. The 16 ACP countries concerned are almost all African countries (Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome e Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania) with the exception of Surinam (Caribbean). Surinam will host the eighth summit of ACP heads of state and government on 6-7 November. The theme for the Surinam summit will be “Repositioning the ACP Group to fulfil the aspirations of our Peoples”. (AN)