During the first meeting after the summer break of the European Parliament's development committee on Wednesday 31 August, MEPs were in agreement that the relationship between the EU and the 78 ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) countries needs to be reconsidered in depth, as well as the lessons learned from the weaknesses of the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and the 78 ACP countries.
The committee was chaired by Linda McAvan (S&D, UK) and the MEPs said that increased effectiveness of the future partnership is a major concern, as is strengthening its parliamentary dimension.
Koen Doens, a director of DG DEVCO (international cooperation and development) at the European Commission who is responsible for the post-Cotonou task force, was at the Parliament's development committee meeting to present the results of the assessment of the Cotonou Agreement over the last 15 years by the Commission and European External Action Service (EEAS). The results of the assessment were published on 15 July and will be the subject of an informal discussion among the European development ministers, which will take place in Brussels on 7 September (EUROPE 11604). The MEPs were told that an impact assessment was "practically finished" and would be published in November, at the same time as a Commission communication, which is currently being drafted.
Doens was pleased about the "rational" debate that had taken place with MEPs ahead of the vote, on Tuesday afternoon, on the report by Norbert Neuser (S&D, Germany) about the future of ACP-EU relations after 2020. Adopting this report by a comfortable majority (20 votes in favour, 5 against and one abstention), the MEPs called for the improved effectiveness of this partnership in order to tackle new challenges, while focusing on implementation of the universal sustainable development goals, which will require the future partnership to be given a mechanism for monitoring progress and responsibility.
"This report is a healthy basis for negotiating the ACP-EU partnership post-2020. It puts forward an architecture which will combine the strength of a large number of countries represented at global level with the effectiveness of the cooperation of smaller groups of countries that will enable tailor-made solutions", Neuser said after the vote.
The MEPs think that the regional agreements are also vital for effective cooperation and must be targeted on specific needs, taking account of the regional strategies and organisations that already exist. Ownership of the partnership, good governance and the improvement of monitoring the respect of human rights will be strengthened.
The MEPs advocate regular assessment and joint reports in all cooperation areas, as well as increased participation in the partnership from national parliaments, local authorities, civil society and the private sector. They say the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly should be strengthened and should include representatives from opposition parties so as to ensure democratic dialogue on all aspects of the partnership, without evading difficulties and sensitive issues.
The plenary vote of the European Parliament is planned for October.
During the debate, Doens stated that the summary document on the assessment of the Cotonou Agreement was a "very strategically important document", which complements the global strategy on the foreign and security policy of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, the framework of the universal sustainable development goals and the post-Cotonou framework.
He stated that the impact study will be published to enable debate. "There will be assessment of different scenarios. We will support the option to be retained. The college [of commissioners] has not yet made a decision", he said, adding that through the communciation that it unveils in November the Commission made the choice to publish "a political document (rather than legal), with the most viable option, in the framework of a dialogue with the ACP countries, to prepare a negotiation mandate that will be published at the end of summer 2017".
Doens conceded to Neuser that it would have been more judicious to have had this assesment a year earlier. "We tried to make up for the delay while preparing the review of the European Consensus on development", he said. Answering MEPs' questions, he said that "the three pillars at the centre of Cotonou will doubtless be abandoned in the future because in the three pillars the political plank, economic development and the fight against poverty are separated. But we need a continuum".
Doens also acknowledged the need to take better advantage of the ACP-EU partnership to defend its joint positions on big global challenges. "If we manage to identify real challenges we want to deal with together at the big international conferences, we have real challenges to debate at the joint ministerial Councils. Being strong in our partnership at big moments of the global agenda would be a very important thing", he said, mentioning the successful example of the Coalition of the most ambitious countries at the COP21 climate conference in Paris. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)