As Poland has still not withdrawn its reservation to the signature by the Europeans and the provisional application of the post-Cotonou Agreement initialled in 2021 by the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACP), the Cotonou Agreement will have to be extended once again, which will be done on Monday 26 June. The decision will be adopted without debate at the EU Foreign Affairs Council, a diplomatic source confirmed to EUROPE.
On Friday 23 June, the ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) gave the green light to the proposal to extend the transitional measures of this partnership agreement, which was signed in 2000 for a period of twenty years. The Commission's initial proposal to avoid a legal vacuum when the last extension expired on 30 June was for a maximum of 3 months (see EUROPE 13202/26 ), which was extended by one month for safety reasons.
Urgent calls not to delay the entry into force of the post-Cotonou Agreement, which has been renewed and modernised to better meet the new challenges and, in particular, to carry weight in international forums, have not triumphed over Poland's demand to obtain concessions relating to Ukrainian cereals in surplus on its market before lifting its reservation to the signature and provisional application of the Agreement between the 27 EU countries and the 79 ACP countries. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)