ACP SECRETARIAT
PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 3 December 2004
Ministerial negotiating session on the Revision of
the Cotonou Agreement
The 2nd ACP-EU Ministerial negotiating meeting on the Revision of the
Cotonou Agreement, which was held at ACP House in Brussels on 3 December
2004, noted the reconciliation of the points of view of the two parties
on political dialogue, particularly regarding the holding of political
consultations for the violation of democratic principles, support for
the International Criminal Court, and commitments for the non-proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. The negotiating session was jointly
chaired by the ACP and EU Council Co-Presidents, respectively, Mr. Keith
Desmond Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica
and Mrs. Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven, the Netherlands Minister
for Development Cooperation.
Among the important issues discussed during the negotiations were the
Development of the social sector, the Investment Facility, and Rules
and procedures.
The two sides recorded the points of agreement and disagreement on
the different chapters and asked the technical negotiating teams to
work towards ensuring that the revised Agreement is signed before the
deadline of 28 February 2005.
Political dialogue
Weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The two sides agreed to fight against
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and that the resources
allocated thereto be drawn from sources other than those reserved for
the development of ACP countries. However, the ACP side objected to
the inclusion of this issue as an essential element of the Agreement
on par with human rights, for example. The ACP countries also refused
any reference to the production and storage of WMDs in which their Member
States are not involved.
International Criminal Court. The commitment to support the International
Criminal Court will be recorded in the preamble, as well as in the body
of the text of the revised Agreement, but a compromise text is yet to
be finalised.
Political dialogue (Articles 8 and 9) and political consultations (Articles
96 and 97). The ACP side had proposed a text on Article 8 (political
dialogue) with a scope of application larger than was envisaged by the
European side which usually refers to the said Article to move to Articles
96 and 97 that govern sanctions. The ACP proposal specified the procedure
of moving from dialogue to sanctions. The European side accepted the
principle of including an annex on conducting political dialogue, but
refused a joint decision on the issue at this point.
Social sector development. The EU took note of the ACP proposals on
sexual and reproductive rights, and women’s rights. The same was done
as regards the issue on Population and Development. The definitive text
is expected to be finalised by the experts.
Under “Any other business” a compromise text is expected to be found
on the Investment Facility regarding which the EU did not think there
was much room to manoeuvre to take full account of the proposal from
the ACP side.
Rules and procedures
Speaking on behalf of the EU at the meeting on 2 December, Mr. Louis
Michel, the Commissioner for Development, presented a series of proposals
on the Rules and procedures, which provided for budgetisation of the
EDF - not applicable for the next (5) five years, since the EU Member
States have committed to the process. The major aspects of the EU proposal
are: the partial allocation of resources to ACP countries at the start
of the financial protocol and flexible undertakings based on performance
or emergencies; possibility of including non-ACP countries among the
beneficiaries of EDF projects subject to reciprocity; increased coherence
between the development policies of the Union and its Member States;
possibility of re-adjusting the national and regional envelopes outside
of the mid-term reviews; modification of the responsibilities of ACP
National Authorising Officers whose functions might, in the event of
incapacity, be assumed by the European Commission; and the possibility
for third parties to respond to EDF invitations to tender.
The ACP side took note of these newly-formulated proposals, while expressing
reservations regarding the guarantees pertaining to the maintenance
of resources in the event of budgetisation, in spite of declarations
from the European side on the maintenance of the level of resources.
10th EDF
In reply to questions from the ACP side regarding resources for future
cooperation, Commissioner Louis Michel informed the meeting that since
the budgetisation process could not yet be set up, his department was
in the process of preparing a draft of the 10th EDF in accordance with
the guidelines of the joint Council held in Gaborone in June 2004.
Commodities
The ACP side drew attention to the need to revise the articles on rice.
The EU Commissioner agreed to this while reminding the gathering, nonetheless,
that as in the case of trade cooperation on the whole, the revision
could only be legally introduced through separate negotiations.
ACP SECRETARIAT
Contact: Hegel GOUTIER, Head Press & Communication
Tel +32 2 743 06 04 / + 32 2 743 06 93
Fax : +32 2 743 06 58
e-mail: goutier@acp.int
ACP website: www.acp.int
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