Brussels, 09/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - The twenty-sixth session of the joint ACP-EU Council, on 11 May in Brussels, will be dominated by trade issues in the framework of the implementation of the Cotonou agreement and in view of the next round of multilateral negotiations in the WTO. The Ministers from the 86 countries linked by the Cotonou agreement (77 ACP countries and 15 E Member States) will have as main task to accelerate their preparations for the negotiation of economic partnership agreements and to review the issues concerning the future of their partnership for the development and integration of the ACP group into the world economy. The works will be co-chaired by the Minister for Finance from Ghana (for the ACP side) and by Mrs Maj Inger Klingvall, Swedish Minister responsible for cooperation for development (for the Europeans). Poul Nielson, Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, will represent the European Commission. Below is the agenda of the session:
Trade cooperation
Future economic partnership agreements: the Council will discuss the preparations in view of the ACP-EU negotiation, which must be launched in September 2002.
Preparation of fourth WTO ministerial conference (in Qatar, next November): on request from the ACP, the Ministers will tackle in particular access to medicines and bananas (on this last point, the ACP want to be informed of the agreement that arose to resolve the United States/EU/Ecuador dispute).
Sugar: the Council will listen to an account from the competent ministerial committee and will have an exchange of views over the future of the benefits offered to ACP under the Sugar Protocol.
Cooperation for the financing of development: report from the ministerial committee on the EDF leftovers and on the implementation of the resolution concerning the debt reduction initiative.
Enlargement of the Union: the EU will inform the ACP on the progress of negotiations.
Ratification of the Cotonou Agreement: the Council will discuss the state of progress in a very slow process, as, to date, only a few ACP States have ratified the agreement, whereas no EU Member State has done so.
Joint Parliamentary Assembly: the Council will be briefed on resolutions adopted in Libreville.
Climate change: the Council will adopt a joint declaration on international negotiations on ways of implementing the Kyoto Protocol.
The Council will, moreover, have an exchange of views on: 1) ACP/EU political dialogue: this subject has been included on the agenda at the request of the ACP side, which would like details on how some of the provisions of Cotonou will be implemented (notably Article 8, providing for political dialogue at all levels, Article 12 regarding the Union's obligation to inform the ACP of any decision that could affect ACP interests and Article 97 providing for a consultation procedure in case of corruption); 2) a communication from the ACP/EU economic and social partners.
The Council will also be referred administrative questions relating to delegation of powers to the committee of ambassadors for certain decision, notably financial.