03/06/2024 (Agence Europe) – The Maldives is in the process of completing “domestic legal procedures” with a view to ratifying the Samoa Agreement, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in a press release on Monday 3 June. This partnership agreement between the European Union and 79 countries of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) was signed last November (see EUROPE 13388/16). The EEAS announcement came the day after the 5th Senior Officials Meeting, during which the Maldives confirmed its interest in strengthening and deepening its cooperation with the European Union. Ratification is a prerequisite for negotiating the Maldives’ accession to an interim economic partnership agreement between the OACPS countries and the EU, which provides for duty-free access to the EU market. (BD)