Brussels, 09/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The future of the partnership between the EU and 78 countries from the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) Group after 2020 will be the subject of an initial exchange of views between European ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 12 October.
The time has come to launch an introductory reflection on the possible future directions for the ACP-EU partnership after the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement - the unique partnership agreement for development between 28 rich countries and 78 developing countries.
This exchange of views, which will be chaired by High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, will be guided by the public consultation document that the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) presented jointly on Tuesday 6 October. The objective of this consultation is to identify in which areas the Cotonou Agreement has been most effective, to assess how relevant it remains, and to define the content and outline of a new partnership that is adapted to a multipolar world and to the new challenges of common interest (see EUROPE 11405).
The ministers will focus on the political part of the relationship that the EU wants to have with the ACP countries, and on the framework and instruments for this relationship, taking account of the new international situation. The Foreign Affairs Council, meeting in its development format, will hold a more substantial debate in Brussels on 26 October as regards the options and future directions of EU-ACP relations. Concluded for 20 years in 2000, the Cotonou Agreement comprises three parts - political, development and trade. Coming after the Lomé and Yaoundé Conventions, it has been revised twice - in 2005 and 2010. The economic and partnership agreements (EPAs), which were concluded under the Cotonou Agreement and driven by multilateral trade rules, were not made with the whole ACP Group but with ACP regions. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)