Countless attempts by the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council to obtain Poland’s green light to launch the procedure for the signature by Europeans of the Post-Cotonou Partnership Agreement, to be initialled in April 2021 by the EU and the Organisation of ACP States (OACPS), have come to nothing, the Presidency and the Member States regretfully noted on Thursday 15 June (see EUROPE 13170/16).
The Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) took note of the fact that Poland continues to make its green light conditional on concessions on Ukrainian cereals (see EUROPE 13172/27) and discussed, this time at the request of the delegations, what needs to be done to move forward.
Frustration and irritation have been reiterated at the blocking by one Member State, which threatens the provisional entry into force of this particularly important renewed Partnership Agreement with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (see EUROPE 13175/1).
The European Commission has told ambassadors that it will submit a proposal for a three-month extension of the Cotonou Agreement to avoid a legal vacuum on 30 June, when the previous extension of the current Cotonou Agreement expires, a diplomatic source said on Thursday.
A Commission spokesperson told EUROPE on the same day that this extension of the transitional measures was “limited to 3 months”. The spokesperson added: “The Commission looks forward to the Council finalising its internal procedures for authorising the signature and provisional application of the new partnership agreement between the EU and the OACPS states as soon as possible. This is imperative, more so in the current geopolitical context”.
In a press release, MEPs Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish) and Carlos Zorrinho (S&D, Portuguese) strongly urged “Poland to stop obstructing the signing of this agreement so that the EU can remain the partner of choice for ACP countries” (see EUROPE 13134/20). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)