Press
Release - ACP Group and European Union sign the revised
Cotonou Agreement - Luxembourg , 25
June 2005
On Saturday 25 June 2005 in Luxembourg, the African, Caribbean
and Pacific Group of States (ACP) and the European Union (EU) formally
signed the revised version of the Cotonou Agreement that has bound
them since 2000. The parties undertook to further improve the quality
and effectiveness of the ACP-EU Partnership to attain the main objectives
of the Agreement: eradication of poverty and the gradual integration
of the ACP countries into the global economy.
While reinforcing the sustainable development aspect of the partnership,
the revised Agreement includes new elements under the political dimension.
More specifically, it provides for cooperation between the ACP Group,
the EU and the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as better
organisation of ACP-EU political dialogue.
In addition, the two parties agreed to cooperate in the fight against
terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
In that regard, the EU has agreed to provide the ACP countries with additional
resources, apart from the European Development Fund (EDF), to build their
human, institutional and technical resources in these two areas.
Furthermore, with regard to the financial envelope,
the EU has agreed to make available to the ACP countries for the period
2008-2013, an amount at least equivalent to that of the current 9 th
EDF, excluding the balance, increased by the EU inflation rate and
the EU growth rate, and taking into account the EU’s enlargement
by the addition of the new Member States.
Launched in Botswana in May 2004, the negotiations for the revision
of the Cotonou Agreement were concluded in Brussels on 23 February 2005
at a special meeting of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers.
The Partnership Agreement, which was signed in Cotonou , Benin , in
2000, binds the ACP Group and the European Union for 20 years, with a
revision scheduled every 5 years.
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