The Group of Asian, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP)

Most countries that now belong to the Group of ACP countries already had a special relationship with the European Community. These special relationships were based on historical connections between ACP countries and EU countries and expressed solidarity with the former colonies and overseas territories. With the signing of the Georgetown Agreement in 1975 the 46 ACP countries affirmed their common identity based on solidarity. It gave the ACP Group a permanent structure with the general Secretariat. In the same year the ACP Group signed the first Lomé convention, an Agreement between EU and ACP sovereign states.

Over the years more countries of the Asian, Pacific and African region have joined the ACP Group. The ACP Group now consists of 77 countries. 

For an overview of the members of the ACP Group, go to the General Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States website, under the heading 'ACP countries.

The Georgetown Agreement 

The Georgetown Agreement has been adapted over time. The last version of this Agreement was adopted in 1992 and lists the following objectives of the ACP Group:

• to ensure the realisation of the objectives of the Lomé Convention;

• to co-ordinate the activities of the ACP States in the application of the Lomé Convention;

• to define a common stand for the ACP Group vis-à-vis the EEC on matters covered by the Lomé Convention and on the relevant issues tackled by international bodies and liable to affect the implementation of the Lomé Convention;

• to promote and strengthen the existing solidarity of the ACP States and understanding between ACP peoples and governments;

• to contribute to the development of greater and closer economic, social and cultural relations among developing countries and, to that end, co-operation between the ACP States in the fields of trade, science and technology, industry, transport and communications, education, training and research, information and communication, the environment, demography and human resources;

• to contribute to the promotion of effective regional, inter-regional and intra-ACP co-operation among the ACP States and between developing countries in general and to strengthen the regional organisations to which they belong;

• to promote the establishment of a fairer and more equitable new world order.

For the complete text of the the Georgetown Agreement, the Santo Domingo declaration in 1999 and the Libreville Declaration see the ACP website.

The EU-ACP Relationship

History

In 1975 the First Lomé Agreement was signed, between the then 9 EEC Member States and 46 ACP countries. This Agreement provides ACP countries with preferential treatment and assistance. The Agreement included the following elements:

• STABEX, a system for the stabilisation of export receipts on agricultural products for ACP countries as a result of price fluctuations or crop failures,

• Protocols favouring ACP exports on sugar, beef, veal and bananas.

• Programme aid for infrastructure (including schools and hospitals) and sustainable agriculture.

The second Lomé Agreement, signed in 1979, included a new element, SYSMIN, which is a system of loans for ACP countries that suffer from export losses and are heavily dependent on mining.

The third Lomé Agreement, signed in 1984, stressed the importance of the effectiveness of aid and introduced a policy dialogue. There were no major changes regarding trade.

The fourth Lomé Agreement, signed in 1989 for a period of ten years, puts emphasis on democracy, good governance, the protection of the environment, promotion of human rights, strengthening the position of women, decentralised co-operation, the promotion of the private sector, diversification of the ACP economies and regional co-operation. The Agreement was reviewed in 1995, when again emphasis was put on respect for human rights, making it a precondition for receiving aid (partial or total suspension of co-operation).

Since 1996, after the publication of the EC Green Paper on the future relations between the EU and the ACP countries, there has been a discussion about the renewal of the ACP Agreement. Evaluation of the Lomé conventions showed that the viability and effectiveness of aid were undermined by insufficient attention of the institutional and policy context in the ACP countries. The results of the non-reciprocal trade preferences have yielded mixed results. And additionally, the EU-ACP relation needs renewal because economic and trade agreements need to comply with the WTO rules. The negotiations for a new agreement started in September 1998 and were concluded in February 2000. The new EU-ACP Agreement, called the Cotonou Agreement was signed in Benin in June 2000.

The Cotonou Agreement

The Cotonou Agreement was concluded for a period of 25 years with the possibility for revision every five years. The Agreement is based on five pillars:

1. Reinforcement of the political dimension of the EU-ACP relationship. There will be regular political dialogue between the partners on issues of mutual concern to ensure consistency and increase the impact of development co-operation. Important new elements include peace building, conflict-prevention strategies and migration. New consultation procedures are planned to be introduced in cases of violations of human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law.

2. A participatory approach, i.e. involvement of civil society, the private sector and other non-state players. These non-state players will be provided with information and supported for capacity building. They will also be more involved in the implementation of programmes and projects and consulted on reforms and policies. Finally, links between EU and ACP actors will be encouraged.

3. A focus on poverty reduction. The agreement defines a framework that has a global strategy and takes account of the complexity and multidimensional nature of poverty. Different priorities will be set for each individual country. Support will focus on three areas: economic development, social and human development and regional co-operation and integration. Within these areas the issues of gender equality, environmental sustainability and institutional development/ capacity building should be taken into account.

For more information on the development co-operation aspects of the EU-ACP relationship, see the theme development co-operation.

4. A reform of financial co-operation. The instruments will be regrouped and rationalised. There will be two instruments: the first one is a grant envelope to support long-term development, consisting of country-budgets and regional programmes. The second instrument is an Investment Facility, which provides loans and risk capital to support the development of the private sector. Financial co-operation will now be subject to developments in needs and performance. Rolling programming involving regular reviews allow for flexibility and continuous update of developments in the partner country. The responsibility of the partner countries is stressed.

For more information on financial co-operation between the EU and ACP countries, see the theme development co-operation.

5. A new framework for economic and trade co-operation. The objectives of this co-operation are to promote integration of ACP countries into the world economy by enhancing production and the capacity to trade and attract investment, and ensuring conformity with WTO provisions, while taking account of differences in the level of development.

The economic and social constraints of ACP countries will be taken into account by human and social development policies accompanying economic and trade reforms and by capacity building and co-operation in multilateral forums.

One of the principles of the Cotonou Agreement is that economic and trade co-operation shall build on regional integration initiatives of ACP countries. Regional integration is seen as a key instrument for the integration of ACP countries in the world economy. Regional co-operation can take place in two ways. First, it can take place through regional economic integration in the form of free trade areas, customs unions or single markets. Second, as functional regional co-operation that deals with common problems in countries or cross-border issues. Regional co-operation can have beneficial effects in both the economic and political area and can therefore contribute to poverty reduction. The EU will support initiatives for regional co-operation in the ACP countries.

The EU and ACP countries have also agreed to establish new trade agreements that will liberalise trade between the two regions and that will include co-operation in trade related areas, like competition policy, consumer policy, protection of intellectual property rights, environment, labour standards, standardisation and certification and sanitary and photo sanitary measures. Co-operation in international forums and in trade in services has also been agreed upon.

The current preferential trade agreements will be replaced with Economic Partnership Agreements, based on reciprocity. This reciprocity is necessary to comply with WTO requirements. The negotiations for these agreements shall start at the latest in September 2002. The current regime will be maintained in the preparation period. The new agreement should enter into force before January 2008. From that date, liberalisation should start with a transitional period of at least twelve years. In the period from 2002 to 2008 the feasibility (in 2004) and progress (in 2006) of the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements will be assessed. For the non-least-developed ACP countries that are not in a position to enter such agreement, there will be an assessment of their situation and an examination of alternative possibilities.

In addition, the EU will liberalise essentially all imports of products originating from least developed countries. Of the ACP group, 39 countries can be classified as least developed. This liberalisation process will be implemented over the next five years, and will thus be finished by 2005.

Further details

For further information on the Cotonou Agreement go to the Europa Development website.

Top  |  Back |  Home