Brussels, 20/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The General Affairs Council on Monday reached political agreement over the new association regime for the EU's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) for 2001-2007, which may be formally adopted at an upcoming Council meeting. This issue had begun to resemble a sea serpent with all its various twists and turns to suit the myriad of islands and overseas territories throughout the globe. For ACP countries it was subject to many often contradictory demands from the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom and Portugal. The Belgian Presidency managed to piece all this together in a compromise that overcome the last remaining objections and problems concerning rules of origin; annual rice and sugar quotas; and the breakdown of credits from the European Development Fund (EDF). See EUROPE of 28 November 2000 on the Commission's original proposal.
Funding. The EUR 145 million from the EDF will be broken down as follows: (the amount proposed by the Commission and the amount allocated in the past from the 8th EDF are given in millions in brackets); New Caledonia EUR 13.75 million (EUR 11 million proposed by the Commission, EUR 15.8 million in the past); French Polynesia EUR 13.25 (EUR 10.6, EUR 14.1); Wallis et Futuna EUR 11.5 (11.5, 6.4); Mayotte 15.2 (15.2; 10) St Pierre et Miquelon 12.4 (12.4, 4); Dutch Antilles 20 (8.3, 26.6); Falklands 3 (3, 0); Turks and Cayman Islands 8.4 (8.4, 2.2); Anguilla 8 (8, 1.8); Montserrat 11 (11, 8); St Helena and dependencies 8.6 (8.6, 5.8); Pitcairn 2 (2, 0.4). Grand total: EUR 127.1 million with an additional unallocated reserve of EUR 17.9 million.
Sugar. The text sets out a single annual quota of 28,000 tonnes of sugar, to be progressively phased out: 21,000 tonnes in 2008; 14,000 tonnes in 2009 and 7,000 tonnes in 2010. The quota will therefore be scrapped on 1 January 2011. The option of cumulating rules of origin has been also been scrapped. In a statement, the Commission pledged to examine the particular situation of OCT industries whose survival might be jeopardised and set up derogations as necessary.
Rice. Of a total of 160,000 tonnes of hulled rice that could be exported to the EU market and which may benefit from cumulative rules of origin (for products coming from ACP or Community countries), authorisations will be granted to OCT for 35,000 tonnes a year, initially. Some 10,000 tonnes of this will be set aside for the least developed OCT: the British islands of Anguilla, Montserrat and Turks and Cayman Islands in the Caribbean, France's St-Pierre-et-Miquelon (off the coast of Canada), Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, Wallis et Futuna (in the Pacific) and the UK's Saint Helena, Asencion and Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic. All the other authorisations will be allocated to the Dutch Antilles and Aruba.