Brussels, 02/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - After very lengthy discussion, ministers from 78 ACP countries linked to the EU by the Cotonou Agreement and their European partners reached, in Port-Moresby (Papua-New Guinea) on Friday, an agreement on the amount of the financial protocol for financing ACP/EU partnership for the 2008-2013 period. The 10th European Development Fund (10th EDF) will have a budget of €24.390 billion over six years, i.e. the €22.390 billion decided by the European Council in December in addition to €2 million from EIB own funds (compared to €1.2 billion for the 9th EDF). This is just for ACP countries, excluding the overseas countries and territories (OCT), ACP States having managed to prevent their allocation from being reduced by the €268 million initially intended for OCTs, in these resources.
To this overall allocation will be added the leftovers of the 9th EDF (€400-800 million) which may be paid into the reserve of the 10th EDF (a matter to be decided unanimously by the EU Council) to help finance the cost of implementing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) depending on the results of the mid-term assessment of the 10th EDF in 2010. ACP States, on the other hand, were unable to determine what share exactly of the overall amount would be earmarked for EPAs. In a declaration, the EU nonetheless pledges to finance support for trade via resources other than the EDF to promote regional integration, and to seek additional financing to accompany the implementation of EPAs, depending on needs identified. The ACP States do not yet know how much, exactly, they will need to finance their adjustment costs until completion of the impact studies for these future agreements, that are to take effect on 1 January 2008, to prepare for gradual trade liberalisation.
This was by no means a small feat, given the extremely lively debates that finally led to this major result during the 31st joint ministerial session (see article below). “We successfully concluded our work in a constructive spirit of partnership. The results live up to our expectations”, said Dr Onofre Rojas, National Director for EDF of the Dominican Republic and Co-President of the Joint Council. He added: “We have reviewed the state of progress of EPA negotiations. Regions are moving at different rates, but this does not mean that we have not moved forward. We have begun an indepth debate on the continuation of our partnership. The 9th EDF is coming to expiry. The 10th EDF is to begin on 1 January 2008. It is important for us to reach an agreement in order not to delay ratification procedures for the Cotonou Agreement revised by EU Member States and ACP States. This success is due to the efforts deployed by the EU Council and by the Commission. Our group also has made a great effort”. Mr Rojas was pleased with the increased EIB contribution and expressed the hope that, in the light of vitalisation of the ACP economies, the EIB would be able to show even greater flexibility in its action towards ACP States. The ACP co-president also spoke of many trade issues that allowed the ACP States to make their concerns known to the EU, in particular regarding the delay in implementing the Europe/Africa partnership for cotton, given that no resources were allocated before 2007 for implementation of the plan of action on cotton, their concerns for the future of the sugar sector and for ACP bananas.
Dr Hans Winkler, Austrian Secretary of State and Co-President of the Council paid tribute to the hospitality shown by Papua-New Guinea, the country hosting the session, and also welcomed the “very positive” result obtained - “€24.390 billion for six years of ACP/EU partnership and the decision to reallocate funds not used from the 9th EDF will benefit ACP States and strengthen our partnership”. Negotiations on EPAs will be the subject of revision at the end of the year to identify problems, Dr Hans Wnkler said, going on to say: “We shall restate our commitment to take into account the development dimension of these agreements and promote their entry into force in due course”. The co-president also welcomed the joint declaration on climate change, expressing common concerns for the worsening of the environmental conditions of the planet and noting the commitment shown by both parties to cooperate in combating this phenomenon that above all threatens the vulnerable island States. The two joint statements on the situation in Timor Leste and the earthquake in Indonesia express the solidarity of the EU/ACP Council. Welcoming the first joint ministerial debate on migration and development (see related article below), the European co-president considered the discussion had been “frank and open” and particularly appropriate given the importance that it holds in the EU agenda and given the migration figures in 2006, as well as with a view to the high level meeting of the UN in New York this September.
Speaking for the European Commission, Stefano Manservsi, Director General at Development, emphasised that 23 billion euro (in addition to EIB) over six years was one of the largest ever allocations from a group of developed countries, and also marked the success of partnership, because “development was no longer just about injecting funds, it was about discussing common problems”.