Brussels, 10/12/2001 (Agence Europe) - The third summit of heads of state of the 77 ACP countries (Africa/Caribbean/Pacific) linked to the European Union through the Cotonou Agreement will be held before the opening of the trade negotiations between the EU and the ACP countries (scheduled for September 2002), in Fiji if possible.
That is what the ACP Council of Ministers decided at its 74the meeting that took place in Brussels last week, chaired by Prince Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Tonga. Following the tradition inaugurated in 1997 at the Libreville Summit, the ACP leaders will have the job of further consolidating to the unity and political identify of the ACP group on the world chessboard by building on the Doha acquis (see assessment by ACP of results of the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in EUROPE of 23 November, p.14) and endorsing the ACP group's negotiating position for Regional Economic Partnership Agreements (REPAs) with the EU that are compatible with WTO rules and will apply in 2008. Progress in the preparations for the negotiations was discussed at the Council where ministers noted progress in defining regional geographical entities to negotiate with the EU and reaffirms that they had exclusive powers in this connection. The final decision will be taken in the light of the REPAs impact studies, which can now be launched since the European Commission has released the necessary funding. The results are expected to be available in March 2002. ACP ministers were disappointed that due to the time consuming EDF procedures (that the Commission has promised to shorten) they only have nine months to implement the capacity development programmes before the negotiations are launched, given that not all the EUR 20 million provided to help them will be available until the first quarter of 2002. The main resolutions adopted by the Council are as follows:
Cuba. The ACP Council calls on both sides to pursue their relations in the constructive manner of the recent interviews in Havana. It calls on the EU to translate this spirit into a thoroughgoing review of its common position in order to treat Cuba fairly and impartially, and expressed the strong desire that such a review would lead to Cuba joining the Cotonou Agreement without having to meet any specific or unfair conditions.
Sudan. The ACP Council calls on the Commission to accelerate getting its relations with Sudan back to normal, lifting its sanctions (particularly on co-operation and development and transfer rights under Stabex) and pledging to programme resources under the 7th, 8th and 9th EDF.
Bananas. The ACP Council calls on the Council of the EU to ensure market access for ACP bananas at lucrative prices, ensure that ACP countries' positions on changes to the EU banana import scheme be taken into account and ensure it continues to consult ACP countries as laid down in the Cotonou Agreement. In particular, it wants the adoption of measures to avoid a further fall in the ACP producers' export revenue from the changes to the current system, safeguarding ACP and ACP operators' rights and interests. The ACP Council wants the European Commission to provide special financial assistance to all ACP banana-exporting countries registering a fall in export revenue due to the changes to the EU scheme; change the definition of non-traditional operators to include marketing companies designated by the ACP countries that produced and supplied bananas to the EU in 1994-1996; take immediate measures to relax the procedures and modalities for examining dossiers and paying out aid under the technical assistance programme, increasing the resources for the four years preceding the establishment (on 1 January 2006) of the system based solely on tariffs; providing the resources not allocated under the 8th EDF to set up a technical and financial assistance programme for ACP countries not benefiting at the moment from the special aid scheme in order to help them become more competitive.
Sugar. The Council wants the Union to pull out the stops to defend, maintain and honour commitments made to ACP countries under the Sugar Protocol and the SPS agreement. They want urgent measures to combat the ill effects of the "Everything but Arms" for various ACP sugar exporters who do not belong the least developed countries group.
Concern about the closing down of ACP delegations. Concerned about the European Commission's unilateral decision to shut down, cut staff and demotion of its delegations in 9 ACP countries (Antigua and Barbados, Belize, Comores, Sao-Tomé-et-Principle, Tonga, Equatorial Guinea, Cap Very, Togo and Trinidad and Tobago), the ACP Council calls on the Commission to avoid taking any further measure that could jeopardise ACP countries' ability to take full advantage of the Cotonou Agreement.