The chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE), Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish), and the co-president of the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Carlos Zorrinho (S&D, Portuguese), are losing patience: the Post-Cotonou Agreement between the EU and the 79-nation ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) organisation, initialled in April 2021, is still not signed by the EU due to Hungary’s reservation on the provisions on migration (see EUROPE 12988/7).
Hence the letter they sent to the Czech Presidency of the EU Council on Wednesday 12 October, asking it to take action to have this reservation lifted as soon as possible.
“We call again on the EU Council to find a solution and lead the EU swiftly out of the current impasse. We echo the words of our OACP partners [Organisation of ACP States: Ed.], urging the concerned EU member state blocking EU approval of the modernised Agreement to positively consider facilitating the normal functioning of our relations. It is high time that we bring our partnership with the OACP countries to a new dimension, and moving forward with the signature of the new agreement is the most concrete way of demonstrating the EU’s European leadership in the current context”, the MEPs write.
They also point out that they are waiting to receive the European Parliament’s request for consent from the EU Council. This consent is required after signature to allow the provisional entry into force of the Agreement.
The current Cotonou Agreement, which expired in February 2020, has been extended until June 2023. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)