The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL AT THE 13th SESSION OF THE ACP PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY ACP HOUSE BRUSSELS, BELGIUM 9 SEPTEMBER 2008

-       Hon. Wilkie RASMUSSEN, President of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly

-       Hon. Members of Parliament

First of all, allow me to welcome you once again to ACP House for the series of meetings this week of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly (ACP PA) and ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (ACP-EU JPA).  It promises to be a very busy week, but I know that you will apply yourselves with your usual vigour and diligence in highlighting issues of interest affecting the populations that you represent in the respective constituencies of the ACP Group of States. As you well know, this week is Africa Week in the European Parliament, and I think that it is fortunate that it coincides with ACP-EU JPA meetings. A number of activities, to which you are all invited, have been lined up to commemorate the week.

Mr. President,

When I addressed your Assembly during its 12th Session in Ljubjana, Slovenia, you requested that I should regulary address the Assembly on issues affecting the ACP Group and bring your Assembly up to date on these issues.

To this end, knowing that you have a full agenda this morning, I would like to restrict my address to the following:

1. ACP meetings and other events;
2. EPA negotiations;
3. Doha Round; and
4. ACP-EU Cooperation, in particular, the Review of the Cotonou Agreement and Intra-ACP Programming under the 10th EDF.

ACP Meetings/Events

87th  Session of the Council of Ministers and ACP/EC Council of Ministers: 8 – 13 June 2008

Mr. President,

The 87th Sesstion of the ACP Council of Ministers took place in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia during the period 8 - 13 June 2008. Ministers took the opportunity to discuss important global developments affecting the ACP Group, and adopted  a number of Decisions, Resolutions and a Declaration on ACP-EU political dialogue, coomodities’ trade in the framework of the Cotonou Agreement, the Doha Round, EPAs and food security. The Meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers was followed by a joint Meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers on 12 and 13 June 2008. During the ACP-EC Council of Minsters, discussions focused on EPA negotiations, food security and food prices as well as financing for development, especially in the context of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). For the first time in the history of ACP-EC Meetings, Ministers adopted a Joint Declaration on these issues, which reflected a convergence of opinion and policy on how to address these challenges.

2nd Meeting of ACP Ministers in Charge  of Asylum, Migration and Mobility

The 2nd Meeting of ACP Ministers in Charge of Asylum, Migration and Mobility was held in Brussels on 29 and 30 May 2008. The Meeting concluded with the adoption of a substantive Resolution that spells out the vision and concerns of the ACP Group with regard to the Migration and Development nexus.

Meeting on Rules of Origin

During the period 2 to 3 September 2008, the ACP Secretariat hosted a Meeting on Rules of Origin in relation to the EPA negotiaitons. As you may know, Rules of Origin are one of the contentiuos issues in trade negotiations. The Meeting addressed a number of aspects in this area and shared experiences from the 6 Regions of the ACP Group.

Meeting of the EPA Chief Negotiators

The ACP Secretariat hosted a meeting of the EPA Chief Neogtiators during the period 4 – 5 September 2008.  The outcomes of the meeting was relayed to Parlaimentarians during the session of the Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade.  I will say a few more words on EPAs later in my address.

Meetings of  ACP Ministers of Education and Finance

Mr. President,

The ACP Secretariat regulary conducts sectoral meetings of the ACP Group to discuss common positions and if necessary, adopt Declarations and Plans of Action on issues relating to ACP-EU cooperation. To this end, the Secretariat is planning to host the following meetings during Ocotber 2008:

-Ministers of Finance: 14 – 17 Ocotber 2008; and
-Ministers of Education: 20 – 23 October 2008.

2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development

The ACP Group shall be participating in the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Develpment (GFMD), which will take place in Manila, the Philipines during the period 27 to 30 October 2008. Our Ministerial meeting earlier this year provided a clear and distict ACP postion that will be presented at the Forum. The Global Forum on Migration and Development was lauched as an inforal consultative process that develop practical and innovative policies aimed at reinforcing the mutually beneficial relationship between migration and development. The 1st Forum, hosted by the Belgian Government, was highly successful and it is hoped that this will be replicated in Manila. I am pleased to announce that the Secretariat, in cooperation with the European Commission, shall be sponsoring one Delegate from each ACP State to participate in the Forum in Manila.

6th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government

Mr. President,

During the period 2 to 3 October 2008, in Accra, Ghana, the ACP Group will be holding the 6th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government. The Summit will be preceded by Meetings of the ACP Council of Ministers and Joint Meeting of the Council and ACP Ministers of Foreign Affairs. The theme of the Summit will be Promoting Human Security and Development, and Heads of State and Government will discuss how to focus their future actions on this theme with a view to eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development, thereby guaranteeing peace, security and stability for all their communities.

The Summit will address, inter alia, the following:

-Mid-term review of the MDGs;
-Rise in food prices and their effect on the development of ACP States;
-Energy, with a focus on electricity and the price of oil;
-Climate change;
-EPAs; and
-Future of the ACP Group.

EPA Negotiations

As I informed this Assembly at the 12th Session of the ACP PA in Slovenia, only the Caribbean Region has concluded negotiaitons for a full EPA with the EU (signature is still pending). Other ACP States have opted to initial interim Agreements while 42 States have not initialed an Agreement.  In the Declaration adopted during its 87th Session, the ACP Council of Ministers re-iterated its concerns about the development dimension of EPAs and the need for resources to address adjustment costs and supply side capacity in ACP States.

The ACP Group still has to come to terms with EPAs and its effect on the future of our Group.  This is precisely why our Heads of State and Government will discuss in Accra not only EPAs, but also the future of the ACP Group.  Our political leaders have to express themselves, and provide political leadership on the way forward, otherwise our principle partner will direct our future.

Doha Round

Mr. President,

As you know, the latest round of trade negotiations to conclude the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO), once again reached a stalemate in July 2008. As at previous talks, agricultural trade was the last straw that broke down the talks. Although agricultural trade amounts to only 7 percent of global trade, it supports a much larger proportion of the populations of the world’s poorer countries. For instance, farm exports are the source of income for millions of cotton-growers in West Africa. But the US provides $19.6 billion subsidies to its farmers and could increase it in future to close to $25 billion.

Reforming the high tariffs ACP farmers face and reducing rich-country subsidies could unlock a lot of agricultural potential in ACP States and is a key component of global poverty reduction strategies. However, agriculture is also central to a number of developed countries in the EU, where opening up the sector is a politically sensitive subject. You will have heard of the criticisms that have been leveled at the WTO by certain EU Heads of State to the effect that the WTO agenda is hurting the prospects of European farmers.

The shear number and diversity of the interests of member States of the WTO also makes negotiations inherently difficult. However, everybody knows that the negotiating agenda is driven by about 40 countries or so. As we have seen in all these talks, beginning with the failure of the Seattle Ministerial Conference in 1999, it is fair to say that development and eradication of poverty are the furthest issues from the minds of rich country negotiators at these talks. We have to seriously think about how our countries can develop in this not too friendly environment, and what options can be pursued.

ACP-EU Cooperation

2nd Review of the Cotonou Agreement

The 1st Review of the Cotonou Agreement was done in 2005, and ratification of the Revised Cotonou Agreement was completed in 2008 by ACP States on the one hand and the EU member States and the European Commission on the other hand. The 2nd Review of the Agreement is due in 2010.  Article 95.3 of the Revised Cotonou Agreement provides that the Community and the Members States, on the one hand and the ACP States on the other, shall notify the other party not less than 12 months before the expiry of each five year period of any review of the provisions they desire to make with a view to possible amendments of the Agreement.  This review procedure does not apply to the provisions on economic and trade cooperation, for which a separate review procedure applies.

In the 1st Review of the Cotonou Agreement, a number of important issues, which traditionally were not part of the ACP- EU framework per se, were included in the Agreement. For the first time, the parties made commitments to the ideals of the International Criminal Court, the Millennium Development Goals and the fight against terrorism. During the 2nd Review process, the ACP Council will seek to propose the inclusion of the other equally important issues that affect the ACP-EU Partnership, as well as strengthen and improve our historical areas of cooperation. To this end, given the change to the ACP-EU trade regime brought about by EPAs, ACP-EU trade cooperation would need to emphasise more than ever before technical and financial assistance for effective integration of ACP States into the multilateral trade system.

Intra-ACP Programming under the 10th EDF

Mr. President,

Consultations between the ACP Group and the European Commission on the programming of the 10th EDF are being undertaken at this moment. The development cooperation component of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement is implemented at three levels of intervention: national, regional and intra-ACP. The intra-ACP envelope amounts to € 2.7 billion for the period 2008-2013. The interventions at the intra-ACP level are guided by the principles of subsidiarity and complementarityset out in the guidelines for the programming of the intra-ACP cooperation adopted by the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors. The intra-ACP envelope is also used for financing part of the operations of the ACP Secretariat and the joint institutions of the Cotonou Agreement, namely, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, The Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

At the technical level, that ACP Secretariat will do its utmost to ensure that the programming exercise reflects the priorities of the ACP Group, and that our principle partner does not resort to uni-lateral action in only financing international initiatives that are in line with EU development objectives and strategies.

Mr. President,
Honourable Members,

These are the issues that I wanted to address today. I thank you for your kind attention and wish you success in the rest of your meetings.