ACP Secretary-General,  J.R Goulongana,  inaugurates ACP Office in Geneva with the participation of Mr Moore (WTO) and P. Lamy (EU).

On Wednesday 16 January,  the ACP Secretary-General officially inaugurated the ACP Office in Geneva in the presence of the Director-General of the WTO,  Mr Mike Moore and the European Commissioner responsible for Trade, Pascal Lamy. The ACP Office has been raised to the rank of ACP Group Permanent Representation in Switzerland, accredited to the WTO and other international organisations based in Geneva.

On that occasion, a Working Group was organized between Commissioner Lamy and the ACP Ambassadors accredited to Switzerland,  the principal  theme being “the link between the post-Doha process and the future negotiation of ACP-EU economic partnership agreements (EPAs)”

Opening of ACP Office :  During the inauguration ceremony and ensuing press conference, Mr Goulongana recalled the context within which the decision to open an ACP representation in Geneva was taken some years ago,  and the conditions under which the project has materialized, as follows:

Instituted in 1975 to ease the management of cooperation between the Group and the European Community under the auspices of the Lome Convention, the ACP Secretariat was established in Brussels. However, sensing that the Group could not be absent from Geneva which is the  theatre of influences,  the Council of Ministers contemplated, some ten years ago,  establishing an Office there.

The changes that have occurred these past years in the global  economic context have rendered the realization of the project imperative. They have had  serious repercussions on ACP-EU cooperation.  In the medium term,  the inevitable opening of markets required an adaptation now provided for under the Cotonou Agreement.

Furthermore, some directives had been issued by the two Summits of Heads of State and Government held at Libreville in 1997 and  Santo Domingo in 1999. The first decided on the transformation of the ACP Secretariat which should eventually be endowed with higher prerogatives, and headed by an Executive Secretary-General, a decision which realized almost a year ago by the Council Of Ministers.

While reaffirming cooperation with the European Union as a priority of the Group, the Santo Domingo Summit gave guidelines for its opening to other political and economic poles in the interest of the ACP countries, as well as  the strengthening of cooperation with the EU. The new context of operation of international organizations,  particularly those dealing with economic issues, will increasingly require such combined  actions as those undertaken at the recent WTO Ministerial Conference at Doha, thanks to which guarantees were obtained for the execution of the trade aspect of the Cotonou Agreement and consequently for the effective application of one of the essential objectives of ACP-EU cooperation, namely, the smooth  integration of ACP countries into the global trading system.

The Secretary-General recalled that continued coordination at Doha between the representatives of the European Union and those of the ACP was exemplary as it contributed to the attainment,  by both parties, of extremely good results. As far as the ACP is concerned, he considered the Doha Conference historic.

The third Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Fiji at the end of next Summer will deal, inter alia, with the ACP’s stand in the new economic and geopolitical landscape. In that context, the establishment of the ACP Secretariat’s  wing is of capital importance, the Secretary-General concluded.

Pascal Lamy before the ACP Ambassadors : In his statement to the ACP Ambassadors, European Commissioner Pascal Lamy developed his points of view on the synergy that must exist between the implementation of the decisions of the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference at Doha,  especially its “Development Agenda”,  and the preparation of the future ACP-EU Trade negotiations due to be launched by the end of September 2002.

After stressing the expediency of the new Office for the ACP Group, he said the group had become a real force to reckon, including at Doha, as far as the WTO is concerned, as testified by the opening of the Office. As regards ACP-EU relations and the WTO,  Mr.Lamy stressed the need for the European Union to integrate its programmes and approaches to trade and development. He made a commitment that  “Europe will never more treat trade and development as two separate objectives of its policy”.

The EPAs (Economic Partnership Agreements) and the WTO  will go hand-in-hand, Mr Lamy said.  Technical assistance in trade will accompany the two processes,  he assured the gathering. As far as the EPAs are concerned, it is provided for by ACP-EU cooperation, especially by the Cotonou Agreement ; for the ACP participation to the post-Doha process, by the Development agenda of Doha.

During the discussions with the ACP Ambassadors, the European Commissioner clarified his stance on the implementation of the decisions taken at Doha, inter alia, on the setting up of the Negotiating Committee. Despite the doubt expressed by some ACP representatives regarding the risk of placing the WTO Director-General in an unstable situation by making him participate in the negotiations, Mr Lamy considered that the urgency of ensuring the implementation of Doha within a short period of three years required a simple structure, namely, a Negotiating Committee chaired by the Director-General, and six Negotiating Groups headed by six persons recognised for their expertise.

56 ACP members have joined WTO.  9 ACP of them have observer status and 33 have established Missions in Geneva.
 

Contact  :
Hegel Goutier
Chief  Press-Communication ACP
00 32 2 743 06 04  / 743 06 93
fax 00 32 2 743 06 58
goutier @acp.int
http://www.acp.int

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