COTONOU AGREEMENT: TRANSITIONAL MEASURES
AND INTERNAL AGREEMENTS
(a)
(21485)
10568/00
COM(00) 454
(b)
(21626)
10815/00
COM(00) 1359
(c)
(21418)
9888/00
SEC(00) 1034
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Draft Council Decision on the position to be taken by the Community,
within the ACP-EC Council of Ministers, with a view to adopting a
decision on transitional measures to cover the period between 1 August
2000 and the entry into force of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement.
Draft Decision on provisional application of the Internal Agreement on
financing and administration of Community aid under the Financial
Protocol to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement and the allocation of
financial assistance for the Overseas Countries and Territories to
which Part Four of the EC Treaty applies.
Draft Internal Agreement on measures to be taken and procedures to
be followed for the implementation of the ACP-EC Partnership
Agreement; and
Draft Decision on the provisional application of the Internal
Agreement to cover the period between 1 August 2000 and the entry
into force of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement.
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| Legal base:
| (a)Article 310 with Article 300 EC; unanimity
(b) and (c): —
|
| |
| Document originated:
| (a) 17 July 2000
(b) 7 September 2000
|
| Forwarded to the Council:
| (a) 18 July 2000
(b) 8 September 2000
|
| Deposited in Parliament:
| (a) 1 August 2000
(b) 4 October 2000
|
| Department: |
International Development |
| Basis of consideration:
| (a) and (b) EMs of 9 October 2000
(c) Minister's letter of 10 October 2000
|
| Previous Committee Report:
| (a) and (b): none.
(c) HC 23-xxv (1999-2000), paragraph 14 (19 July 2000)
|
| Discussed in Council:
| All adopted |
| Committee's assessment:
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision:
| (a) and (b) Cleared
(c) Cleared (decision reported on 19 July 2000)
|
Document (a)
22.1 The ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, known
as the Cotonou Agreement, the agreement with the African, Caribbean
and Pacific states which succeeds the Lomé Convention,
was signed on 8 June. The trade régime of the new agreement
has been applied since April[54].
This Council Decision, which was adopted on 20 July, provides
for the Agreement to be applied from 1 August 2000 until the ratification
process has been completed, probably not before 2002.
22.2 Under the proposal, the programming of new
resources available under the 9th EDF[55]
will begin under the improved guidelines laid down in the Cotonou
Agreement. Decision-making procedures also need to be in place,
so the Internal Agreement establishing the 9th EDF
will also be provisionally applied (see document (b)). However,
resources from the 9th EDF cannot be released and implemented
until the financial protocol attached to Cotonou enters into force.
Implementation in the interim period will use the instruments
and resources of the 8th and previous EDFs. As laid
out in the Financial Protocol of the Cotonou Agreement, any balances
remaining from previous EDFs will be transferred to the 9th
EDF as soon as it enters into force.
The Government's view
22.3 The Secretary of State for International
Development (The Rt. Hon. Clare Short) says:
"The Government's main
objective in negotiating the transitional arrangements was to
ensure the programming under Cotonou procedures began as soon
as possible. This was agreed and the Commission has already begun
the programming process, starting with development of country
strategies, for 9th EDF resources.
"During provisional application, development
co-operation will continue using resources and instruments from
previous EDFs. However STABEX and SYSMIN[56],
instruments that will no longer exist under the 9th
EDF, will be phased out earlier. No new commitments will be made
to STABEX after 31 December this year. Requests for support under
SYSMIN must have been made by 1 August this year, although (due
to slow EC and ACP systems) it is acknowledged that turning these
requests into projects may take longer than the end of 2000. The
Government supports the early phasing out of these inefficient
and poorly poverty-focused instruments."
Document (b)
22.4 This Decision, which we cleared in draft
on 19 July[57],
was agreed in September. It provides for provisional application
of certain aspects of the new EDF Internal Financing Agreement
and allows Member States to take decisions during the provisional
application of the Cotonou Agreement. The aspects which will be
applied cover:
— the preparation
and development of Country and Regional Support Strategies, preparation
of Country and Regional Indicative Programmes and indicative allocations
of resources;
— establishment of the EDF Committee which
oversees the implementation of the Fund;
— preparation of a new Investment Facility;
and
— adoption of a new Financial Regulation
for the EDF.
Document (c)
22.5 The Internal Agreement constitutes a treaty
binding in international law between the Member States. It lays
down measures to be taken and procedures to be followed in areas
falling within Member States' competence for the implementation
of the Cotonou Agreement.
22.6 The Decision provides for the Internal Agreement
to be applied provisionally from 1 August 2000 until the entry
into force of the Cotonou Agreement. The Minister refers to it
as "the Internal Implementing Agreement".
22.7 We cleared drafts of both these documents
on 19 July50, at which time the Secretary of State
for International Development (The Rt. Hon. Clare Short) said
that she would write to the Committee when the final drafts of
the Internal Agreement and the Internal Implementing Agreement
were available and would explain any changes to the texts. She
regretted that it was not possible to submit these texts in time
for scrutiny before 1 August. She explained that the Internal
Agreement will enter into force only after each Member State has
notified the General Secretariat of the Council that any constitutional
formalities have been completed and in any case not before the
entry into force of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. Therefore,
it might not be ratified and in force before 2002.
22.8 In order to avoid a hiatus in aspects of
co-operation between the ACP and EC that fall within Member States'
competence, it was proposed that the Internal Agreement would
be applied provisionally, from 1 August 2000.
The Minister's letter
22.9 In her letter of 10 October, the Minister
provides copies of the final version of the two agreements and
comments that some changes have been made to the texts.
— Internal Financing Agreement
22.10 The Minister describes these as:
"— provision
for channelling EC assistance through Member States' systems for
co-financed programmes;
"— improved emphasis on coherence
with Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, on incorporating impact
indicators into strategies, and on evaluation. There is also provision
for Member States, through the EDF Committee, to take final decisions
on Country Strategies;
"— the threshold above which the EDF
Committee will decide on individual EC activities set at 8 million
euros, with a written procedure between 8 and 15 million euros.
This is substantially below the Commission's proposal of 25 million
euros. The Commission were disappointed about this. I was prepared
to consider a higher threshold in exchange for implementation
of the reforms embodied in the Agreement, but other Member States
would not agree to the Commission's proposal. A review is planned
for 2003;
"— also, in the statements attached
to the Internal Financing Agreement, a reiteration of a commitment
by the Commission to improve its financial forecasting and that
their performance will be reviewed after two years;
"— a number of other changes including
deletion of an Article on interest rate subsidies — we strongly
argued for this — and a new Article on financing emergency
assistance under the EDF."
22.11 The Minister comments that the UK has worked
hard in the re-negotiation of the Lomé Agreement to put
in place improved management of EDF funds. These interim arrangements
start the process of implementing the new principles.
— Internal Implementing Agreement
22.12 The main change to the draft we cleared
in July, is that:
"... provision is made
for Member States, as well as the Commission, to make proposals
in areas of Member States competence. The procedures by which
Member States will take decisions under Articles 96 and 97 of
the Cotonou Agreement (in cases of a breach of the essential elements,
or of serious corruption) are now laid out in an Annex".
Conclusion
22.13 The Secretary of State has kept us fully
informed on these measures and the reason why she supported adoption
before we had an opportunity to consider the final drafts. We
note with approval that the changes made are consistent with the
Government's efforts to promote improved management of the EDF
funds. The Government's hard work appears to have been rewarded.
22.14 We now clear all three documents.
54 (21034) - ; see HC 23-xiii (1999-2000), paragraph
30 (5 April 2000). Back
55 European
Development Fund. Back
56 Instruments
dealing with the administrative and technical aspects of implementation
of the Lomé Convention (for example, smoothing out the
difficulties caused by exchange rate fluctuations). Back
57 (21418)
9888/00; see HC 23-xxv (1999-2000), paragraph 14 (19 July 2000). Back
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