On Tuesday 19 March, with 13 votes in favour, one against and 4 abstentions, the MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on Development (DEVE) approved the signing in Apia on Wednesday 15 November of the Samoa Agreement between the EU and 79 member countries of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) (see EUROPE 13293/19).
MEPs also adopted (14 votes in favour, one against and 4 abstentions) the draft report by Tomas Tobé (EPP, Swedish) containing the conclusions of the DEVE Committee on this new partnership agreement, which is intended to be better adapted to the challenges of the 21st century, after half a century of cooperation under the Lomé Conventions and the Cotonou Agreement concluded in 2000.
In this report, MEPs call for the rapid implementation of the agreement, as well as its ratification by all the parties concerned, without which participation in the agreement's decision-making and political bodies will be compromised.
Mr Tobé also spoke on Tuesday of “the urgent need to strengthen multilateral cooperation against a backdrop of growing geopolitical instability and unprecedented global challenges”.
The texts will be put to the vote at the European Parliament plenary session on 10 and 11 April in Brussels.
Link to the draft recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/ben
Link to the draft report: https://aeur.eu/f/bem (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)