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HELD ON 15th, 16th AND 17th FEBRUARY 1995 AT ACP HOUSE, BRUSSELS (As approved by the 61st session of the ACP Council of Ministers held on 29 and 30 May 1995 at ACP House) ACP/25/012/95 Rev.1 [Final] Brussels, 23 May 1995 KK/sac |
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OPENING CEREMONY
The session was declared open at 11.25 by Hon. Themba N. MASUKU, Minister for Economic Planning and Development of Swaziland, President-in-Office of the ACP Council of Ministers.
After some brief words of welcome, the President proposed to Council for approval the draft agenda of the meeting, document ACP/25/001/95 Rev.2.
Council's proceedings
1. Adoption of the agenda [ACP/25/001/95 Rev.2]
Following proposals from the floor and after an exchange of views, Council approved the draft agenda subject to the following modifications :
a) Item 7 was amended to read as follows :
"Exchange of views on the implementation of the Mbabane agreement"
b) Item 6 - "Election of the Secretary General" would now be considered before item 7 above.
2. Communication from the President.
The President's communication dealt with the following issues :
a) New Prime Minister of Grenada
The President announced that Hon. George BRIZAN, former Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Energy and Production of Grenada and former President of the ACP Council had been appointed Prime Minister of his country. The President added that he would send his predecessor a message of congratulations on behalf of Council.
b) Host of signing ceremony of Second Protocol of Lomé IV
The President informed Council that the government of Mauritius had offered to host the signing ceremony of the Second Protocol of Lomé IV, after the successful conclusion of the mid-term review.
Council accepted the offer by acclamation.
c) President's participation in 20th Joint Assembly session
The President informed the Ministers that he had taken part in the ACP-EU Joint Assembly's 20th session held in Dakar, Senegal, from 29th January to 3rd February 1995. On that occasion, he made a statement which dealt, inter alia, with the ACP position on the mid-term review, with special emphasis on the ACP criteria for fixing the volume of resources.
The President added that, in answer to an EU query on South Africa during the oral questions session, he informed the Assembly that a task force had been set up by the ACP Council of Ministers, assisted by a technical group made up of ACP Ambassadors, entrusted with the task of examining the South African request to be aligned with Lomé.
d) Lobbying missions to European capitals
The President informed Council that, as part of the Mid-term review exercise, he had undertaken a lobbying mission a few days earlier to Germany where the ACP delegation met high officials of the Ministries of Economic Cooperation and Foreign Affairs as well as two Members of the
German Parliament. The delegation also addressed a letter to Chancellor KOHL, urging the German government to maintain in real terms its contributions to the 8th EDF.
The President further indicated that he had met a week earlier the British Minister of State for Overseas Development, Baroness Linda CHALKER with whom he had discussed, among other issues, the volume of resources and the need for Britain to support the ACP stance on the 8th EDF.
Finally, the President reported that another ministerial delegation led by Hon. Mr RUKIKAIRE, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Planning of Uganda and Spokesman for Trade and Related Matters, visited Spain and Italy on the lobbying mission.
Following the President's communication, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Economic Planning and Development, Minister of Information and Minister of Internal and External Communications of Mauritius, Dr the Hon. P. NABABSINGH indicated to Council that his country's offer to host the signing ceremony of the Second Protocol of Lomé IV was made in good faith and in keeping with the ACP tradition of hospitality, brotherhood and solidarity. He assured Council that its acceptance of Mauritius as the venue for the signing would not lead to any change in the appellation of the Lomé Convention.
Next, the Minister for Public Works of Rwanda, H.E. M. NTAKIRUTINKA, after expressing his gratitude to Council for its support following the genocide and its aftermath in his country, updated the Ministers on the efforts of the new government with a view to alleviating
the difficulties being encountered by the population, restoring security in the country and ensuring a return to normalcy of the political, economic, administrative and judicial institutions.
Council took note of the President's communication as well as of the statements by both the Ministers of Mauritius and of Rwanda.
3. Approval of the Rapporteur's report of the 59th session of the ACP Council of Ministers held in Brussels from 27th to 29th November and on 2nd December 1994 [ACP/25/002/95]
The above report was presented by H.E. Ambassador P.A. MAPINGOU of Congo, Rapporteur for the 59th ACP Ministerial session. He expressed his appreciation to the Secretariat as well as to the five other countries - Angola, Mauritania, Papua-New-Guinea, St Lucia and Seychelles - Friends of the Rapporteur, for their contributions in the preparation of the summary record.
Council approved the document subject to the following amendments :
- on page 20, the first paragraph should read as follows : "In its discussions on the matter, the President observed ........ candidate. Consequently, the President urged ........".
- on page 34 : the contribution by GABON to the ACP solidarity Fund is 150.000 BF, and not 50.000 BF.
Under matters arising from the summary record, the Hon. Dr. A. HUSSEIN, Minister for External Economic Cooperation of Ethiopia raised, with respect to page 16 of the document, the question of the contribution of Ethiopia which, in the Minister's view, should henceforth be reduced since Eritrea, now temporarily classified in category A, would start contributing as from the 1995 financial year.
Hon. HUSSEIN did not agree that Ethiopia's contribution should be reduced only after the reclassification exercise. He therefore urged Council that his country's request be looked into and appropriate action taken.
Council took note of the Minister's remarks.
4. Consideration of reports on the state of negotiations :
a) Institutional and Political matters [ACP/00/010/95]
On the basis of the report of the Central negotiating group, document ACP/00/010/95, the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Ambassador A.H. MSHANGAMA of Tanzania apprised Council on progress in the negotiations in the area of institutional matters, in particular, with respect to items on :
- Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law
- the suspension clause
- membership of the Joint Assembly
- annex 68 of the Joint Assembly Fund
- political dialogue
- title of EU delegation
- principles of market economy.
The update was followed by a brief exchange of views dwelling mainly on the Suspension Clause. The delegations of Jamaica and Sudan suggested some improvements to the draft proposed on page 3 of the document. After the Jamaican proposed addition had been read to the Council, the President requested that the text be distributed to all delegations for consideration.
b) Trade and Related matters [ACP/00/014/95]
The Ministerial Spokesman for Trade and Related Matters, Hon. M. RUKIKAIRE, Minister of State for Finance and Economic Planning of Uganda, after paying tribute to the Ambassadorial Spokesman, H.E. Ambassador L.L. CUMBERBATCH of Trinidad and Tobago and to the Secretariat for their support,
- gave a comprehensive report on the state of the negotiations in his area on the basis of document ACP/00/014/95 which lists the areas of agreement and of disagreement as well as the draft articles;
- reported to Council on the lobbying mission to Spain and Italy.
The brief exchange of views thereafter dwelt mainly on the concerns raised by some delegations on the issues relating to Tropical timber, cumulation, the extension of the territorial waters to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the transitional measures under GATT.
c) Development Finance Cooperation and Related Matters [ACP/00/007/95 Rev.1 + corrigendum]
The Ministerial Spokesman for Development Finance Cooperation and Related Matters, Hon. M. SENAONA, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Manpower Development of Lesotho updated Council on progress of the negotiations in his area.
Referring Council to document ACP/00/007/95 Rev.1, he briefed the meeting on :
i) the areas of agreement;
ii) outstanding issues, and
iii) issues which required political decision from the Ministers, in particular:
- the size of the first tranche of the indicative programmes
- debt
- procedures.
In taking note of the report, Council called for flexibility, if necessary, on the question of the size of the first tranche where the ACP proposed 85% and the EU 65%.
Under this item, the Minister responsible for Raw Materials of Côte d'Ivoire, H.E. Mr Alain GAUZE urged the ACP to invite the EU to accept the ACP "new" needs - e.g. the ACP request on Tropical Timber - in the same manner as many ACP countries recognized the "new" need for democratization. There should be parallel acceptance on either side of these new concepts in international cooperation. If the EU could allocate over 80 MECU to Human Rights issues, it should favourably examine the ACP request for partnership in the co-management of the tropical forest resources.
Council took note of and agreed to consider the above suggestions.
Item 5 : Consideration of the ACP position on the Financial Protocol [ACP/00/009/95 Rev.1]
After a brief introduction by the President of the above document on the ACP proposal for the 8th EDF, Council held an in-depth exchange of views, in particular on the considerations for the assessment of the volume of resources.
Council recalled and underlined the various political, economic, as well as social challenges which the ACP States had to face in so short a period of time and agreed that a strong statement be issued by the ACP to sensitize the NGOs, the public and the EU decision-makers on these problems. Council later authorized the President to approve and issue the said statement on its behalf.
Council was generally of the view that any offer which did not constitute an increase in real terms of the 8th EDF with respect to the 7th should not be accepted.
With respect to the future, Council felt that the ACP should assess the present situation and the ACP Group's performance so far and identify its future objectives and consequently reorganize and strengthen the Group. Council urged the ACP Member States to aim individually at a more efficient implementation of the Lomé mechanisms by, inter alia, insisting henceforth more on the quick disbursements of the Lomé funds.
Council, at this juncture, agreed to defer till later the consideration of items 6((1)) and 7((2)).
Item 8 : Date and venue of the next meeting of :
a) the ACP Council of Ministers
b) the ACP-EU Council of Ministers
Council was informed by the Secretary General that the next ordinary meeting of the ACP-EU Council would take place in Brussels during the second half of May 1995, at a date to be jointly agreed after consultations. The 61st ACP Council, preparatory to the said Joint Council of Ministers, would consequently be also held in Brussels.
Item 9 : Any other business
a) Contributions owed by Haïti :
Under this item, H.E. Mrs Claudette WERLEIGH, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Religious matters of Haiti, made a statement concerning the contributions owed by her country. The Minister, on behalf of her country :
- requested Council to write off Haïti's arrears in contributions for the years 1992, 1993 and 1994, years which corresponded to the period of severe crisis, embargo and economic paralysis of her country;
- undertook to settle, before the ACP Council of Ministers scheduled in May 1995, Haïti's contributions for the years 1990, 1991 as well as for 1995.
Council approved Haiti's request.
b) Application by South Africa for alignment with Lomé IV
At the request of the President who apologized that the issue had not been placed on Council's agenda, the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Ambassador A.H. MSHANGAMA of Tanzania gave a progress report of the work under way at the level of the Ad Hoc Working Group of the Committee of Ambassadors on the request of South Africa to be aligned with the Lomé Convention.
The text of the Chairman's progress report is hereto attached in annex I.
The exchange of views which subsequently dealt with the proposal regarding the adoption of a Facilitating (Enabling) Clause as regards South Africa's accession, similar to that which allowed Namibia to accede to Lomé (article 364 of Lomé IV).
In the end, the President reminded Council that it had already accepted in principle South Africa's application to join Lomé and that the modalities of the accession were being studied.
When Council exhausted the consideration of the above agenda items on the first day of its session - i.e. Wednesday 15th February 1995 - the ACP Ministers were scheduled :
i) to meet their EU counterparts on the two following days, i.e. Thursday 16th and Friday 17th February for the Lomé IV Mid-Term Review;
ii) to reconvene on Saturday 18th February to consider the last two items of its agenda it had deferred.
[However, after the breakdown of the ACP-EU negotiating session in the morning of the 16th February, the ACP Council reconvened at 3.20 p.m that day to assess the situation and take a decision on follow-up action].
During this session, Council first heard reports :
- from the President on his meeting with his counterpart, H.E. Mr Alain JUPPE, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France;
- from Hon. Prof. G.K. SAITOTI, Vice-President and Minister of Planning and National Development of Kenya on the joint Ministerial meeting on Development Finance Cooperation and related matters;
- both from Hon. B.A. MILLER, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business of Barbados and from Hon. R. GARCIA, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Belize, on the meeting of the Caribbean Group with Baroness Linda CHALKER, British Minister of State for Overseas Development.
Many delegates subsequently took the floor to express their views on the situation that had arisen and to propose ideas on the strategy and follow-up action to be taken. They expressed the need, inter alia, for :
- media and public relations offensive;
- intensifying lobbying campaign action towards in particular the UK and Germany;
- a press release to counter, inter alia, EU allegations regarding the improper and inefficient use of the Lomé funds;
- ACP firmness and unity of purpose in the circumstances;
- settlement of ACP's in-house management issues with a view to enabling the Group to meet its future challenges.
At the end of the in-depth exchange of views, Council approved the President's proposal that mandate be given to the Enlarged Ministerial Bureau to meet that very evening and to elaborate recommendations for Council's adoption of action to be undertaken following the breakdown of the ACP-EU negotiations.
The meeting adjourned at 5.35 p.m after Council had agreed to meet the next day, Friday 17th February, at 10 a.m to consider, first, the Enlarged Bureau's recommendations referred to above, and next the remaining two issues of its agenda.
Council's session of Friday 17 February 1995
Council resumed its session with the following item of communication from the President :
Letter from the President of the Republic of South Africa
The President informed Council that he had received a letter from the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Nelson MANDELA on his country's request to join the Lomé Convention.
President MANDELA expressed his gratitude to the ACP President for the attention being given by the ACP to South Africa's request and for the Dakar Joint Assembly resolution on this question.
Council next considered the draft decision relating to Haiti's contribution to the Secretariat's budget and the report by the Enlarged Ministerial Bureau.
Draft decision on contributions owed by Haiti
Council unanimously adopted the draft decision hereto attached in Annex II on Haiti's request examined earlier by the Ministers.
Recommendations from the Enlarged Ministerial Bureau on action to be undertaken following the breakdown of the ACP-EU negotiations [ACP/25/009/95]
The recommendations of the Enlarged Ministerial Bureau, following the mandate it had received from Council, are set out in document ACP/25/009/95 and were presented to the Plenary session by the President.
Council endorsed the recommendations contained in the document, subject to some amendments. It also insisted on countries' paying their arrears of contributions in view of the financing of the lobbying missions.
Statement by the representative of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
In a statement to Council, H.E. Mr Laurence N. EDWARDS, Ambassador of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) to the United Nations and observer at the ACP and ACP-EU meetings, thanked Council for the opportunity afforded him to address the Ministers and to reiterate his country's desire to accede to the Lomé Convention. In this connection, he informed Council that his country had recently formalized relations with some of the EU countries and that the RMI already enjoyed good relations with most members of the ACP Group. In the end, he expressed his country's deep gratitude for the willingness on the part of some of the members of the ACP Group in assisting the RMI to accede to Lomé.
The Presdient thanked Ambassador EDWARDS for his statement and, after apologizing for the delay in the submission of an ACP-EU reply to the RMI's request, explained that the application was being processed in accordance with the provisions of Article 363 of the Lomé IV Convention regarding requests for accession to the Convention.
Item 6 : Exchange of views on the implementation of the Mbabane Agreement
After a brief report by the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors on the above issue and with particular reference to the appointment to the ACP Deputy Secretary General and the Director of the CDI, Council had an extensive exchange of views during which various views were expressed by the speakers on the subject matter.
In the end, Council mandated the Committee of Ambassadors to deal with the issues of the contracts of the Deputy Secretary General and the Director of the CDI immediately after the 60th ACP ministerial session
Item 7 : Election of the Secretary General
It will be recalled that, in accordance with the understanding reached at the 58th session of the ACP Council held in Mbabane, Swaziland, the African Member States of the ACP Group were to designate a candidate to be appointed as the new Secretary General.
Following the failure of the African Group - after consultations - to select one candidate for the post, the 60th ACP Council of Ministers had recourse to the third round((3)) of the election process, in order to designate the Secretary General of the Group.
The following two candidates were left in the race after the withdrawal, in December 1994, of the candidature of the incumbent, Dr Ghebray BERHANE :
- H.E. Mr Marcel Ibinga MAGWANGU, Ambassador of Gabon in Brussels, and
- Dr Machivenyika Tobias MAPURANGA from Zimbabwe, Assistant Secretary General, OAU, Addis-Ababa.
Election :
Before the voting, the President reminded Council, that, in accordance with Article 10 of the Georgetown Agreement :
- Council would vote only once during the present session
- the candidate with two-thirds majority of votes would be declared Secretary General.
Outcome of the vote
The President declared the results
of the votes as follows :
| Dr M.T. MAPURANGA | 39 |
| H.E. Mr M. IBINGA MAGWANGU | 26 |
He concluded that, in the light of the above results, neither of the two candidates had obtained the required majority.
Council was reminded at this juncture that it had exhausted in the three rounds of the electoral process started in December 1994 all the
possibilities provided for under Article 10 of the Georgetown Agreement with respect to decision-making within Council under special
circumstances. A new process was deemed necessary.
Next, following a proposal from the representative of Guinea, H.E. Ambassador Mamadou B. CAMARA, Council agreed to extend the contract
of the present Secretary General, Dr Ghebray BERHANE, as Secretary General until the end of May 1995.
With respect to the process of designating a new Secretary General, Council
a) agreed that the procedure should start afresh;
b) set the end of March 1995 as the deadline for the submission of new candidatures;
c) invited the four African regions to do their utmost to propose one candidate to the next 61st ACP Council.
Reverting once more to the question relating to the appointment of the Deputy Secretary General and the Director of the CDI, Council:
i) confirmed the Mbabane understanding and called for its full implementation according to the rules and by the competent bodies;
ii) endorsed the candidatures proposed by the Caribbean and Pacific regions respectively for the posts of Deputy Secretary General and Director of the CDI;
iii) directed the Committee of Ambassadors to finalize the administrative procedures relating to the appointment of the Deputy Secretary General.
After apologizing to those delegations who might have taken offence during the proceedings, the President thanked Council for its cooperation, wished all the Ministers a safe return to their respective countries and adjourned the session at 8.45 p.m.
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1. Exchange of views on the implementation of the Mbabane Agreement
2. Election of the Secretary General
3. The unsuccessful first two rounds of the voting process took place during the 59th session of the ACP Council held in Brussels on 27, 28, 29 November and 2 December 1994.