Documents considered by the Committee on 11 March 2009 - European Scrutiny Committee Contents


8 Further breach of Cotonou Agreement by Republic of Guinea

(30446)

6543/09

COM(09) 76

Commission Communication on opening consultations with Guinea under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement

Legal baseArticles 9 and 96 of the Cotonou Agreement; QMV
DepartmentForeign and Commonwealth Office
Basis of considerationEM of 4 March 2009
Previous Committee ReportNone; but see (26227) 16041/04 and (29544) 7499/08: HC 19-x (2008-09), chapter 7 (11 March 2009)
Discussed in Council31 January 2005 and 14 April 2008 General Affairs and External Relations Councils
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionCleared; further information requested

Background

8.1 The Cotonou Agreement[37] provides the framework for relations between the EU and 77 countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). It is based on five interdependent pillars:

—  a comprehensive political dimension;

—  participatory approaches;

—  a strengthened focus on poverty reduction;

—  a new framework for economic and trade cooperation; and

—  a reform of financial cooperation.

8.2 Article 96 provides for consultations between the EU and an ACP State if the ACP State is considered to be in breach of an "essential element" of the agreement (respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, as set out in Article 9 of the Agreement). If no remedy is found, "appropriate measures" may be taken including, as a last resort, total or partial suspension of the Agreement.

8.3 On 30 March 2004 the EU decided to open Article 96 consultations with the Government of Guinea (GOG). This decision (which our predecessors cleared on 17 December 2003) was taken because of the deterioration of democracy and the rule of law, failure to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and the lack of good economic governance, culminating in the December 2003 presidential elections, held in contentious conditions and without real electoral competition — so much so that the regional African body, ECOWAS, refused to monitor them in order to avoid giving them legitimacy.

8.4 Subsequent developments are set out in our consideration of two subsequent Council Decisions, which in 2005 began and in 2008 further extended a process of extended political dialogue and progress monitoring. At the beginning of this process, the GOG gave certain undertakings including:

i)  a return to democracy through resumption of dialogue with the traditional opposition and civil society, including revision of the electoral arrangements; and holding local and parliamentary elections based on the new electoral arrangements in June 2005 and June 2007 respectively;

ii)  upholding the Constitution and the law, so guaranteeing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights of political parties to organise, meet, demonstrate and speak in public; launching discussion on a legal framework for liberalisation of the airwaves;

iii)  promoting decentralisation; and

iv)  enhancing macroeconomic management and implementing sectoral reforms.

8.5 The 12-month extension resulted from decidedly mixed political progress in the intervening years. Then, last December, the Minister for Europe reported that the reform agenda continued to be stalled, particularly with regard to fulfilling the key undertaking given by the Guinea authorities — to arrange free and fair parliamentary elections — and noted that the next monitoring mission would be in February 2009.[38]

The Commission Communication

8.6 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 4 March 2009, the Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Caroline Flint) explains that the Communication concerns opening consultations with the Republic of Guinea under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement following the military coup d'état of 23 December 2008.

8.7 The Minister says that:

—  a bloodless military coup took place then following the death of President Conté after a long illness, when a military junta calling itself the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) seized power and its leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, declared himself President of Guinea;

—  the CNDD has suspended the Constitution, dissolved the National Assembly and banned all political and trade union activity;

—  the coup has received widespread popular support in Guinea. Following 24 years of President Conte's rule many sought change. In justifying its actions the CNDD has promised to root out corruption, update the Constitution and manage elections before the end of 2010;

—  the coup has however been strongly condemned by the majority of the international community;

—  the EU Presidency issued a statement on 23 December immediately calling on all parties to respect the Guinean Constitution in the interests of the people and country in order to ensure a peaceful transition and the rapid organisation of free and transparent elections;

—  on 31 December the UK supported a further EU Presidency statement which condemned all seizure of power by force and called for:

  • presidential and legislative elections in Guinea by June 2009;
  • a civilian interim government to be set up and led by a civilian Prime Minister exercising full executive power;
  • the CNDD to become more representative of society, acting as an advisory body only, and to disband at the elections;
  • CNDD members not to stand in elections; and
  • teams already in place at the Ministry and National Independent Electoral Committee responsible for arranging elections to remain in their positions.

—  the EU also expressed its support for the positions of the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), both of whom have suspended Guinea from their memberships.

8.8 The Communication outlines the results of the 14-16 January 2009 EU Monitoring Mission. It recalls that, before the coup, the EU had been monitoring Guinea's progress against a number of benchmarks agreed by the previous regime during Article 96 consultations concluded in 2005. The 14-16 January mission met with senior figures in the interim government and CNDD, including the self-declared President, as well as with members of political parties, trade unions, civil society, and the Independent National Electoral Commission. It reported mixed progress on the EU's calls of 31 December: an end-June date for elections did not look promising but the prospects for elections by the end of 2009 were better; the junta had appointed Mr Kabiné Komara, a civilian international banker, as the new interim Prime Minister on 30 December; however, as Mr Komara's selection of Ministers for the transitional government comprised one third military personnel, many in key dossiers and members of the CNDD, the CNDD continued to hold the reins of power. The Mission reported its belief that international engagement could result in changes. However, the Prime Minister seemed weak and lacking influence on many of the "transition parameters". The slow registration of voters was worrying and reflected a lack of capacity. Political parties and unions remained banned.

8.9 The monitoring mission recommended:

—  opening new Article 96 consultations with Guinea before the end March 2009

—  pressing for a roadmap for elections during continued reinforced dialogue

—  incorporating in the consultations certain consensual benchmarks such as:

  • creating an international contact group on Guinea including the EU, AU, ECOWAS and UN;
  • reinforcing EU and member states' technical and financial assistance to the electoral process and to evaluate the Independent Electoral Commission's capacities;
  • ensuring macroeconomics respect the good governance criteria and coherence with the benchmarks of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility.

8.10 The Commission is now proposing that the Commission and the Council send a joint letter inviting the Republic of Guinea to hold consultations under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, and asks the Council to agree a draft letter attached in an Annex.

The Government's view

8.11 In her Explanatory Memorandum, the Minister describes the military coup as a serious breach of the essential elements of the Cotonou Agreement:

"Cotonou had Article 96 put in it to deal with just these sorts of cases and there is no alternative for the EU other than to open new Article 96 consultations as a matter of urgency if it wants the Cotonou provisions to be taken seriously."

8.12 The Minister says that:

—  the draft letter has been discussed by partners at the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Working Group in Brussels and amendments agreed;

—  the letter will now be jointly addressed to the President of the CNDD as well as to the Prime Minister of the Transitional Government; and

—  the UK asked that language on elections is put at the forefront of the list for the transition road map, which needs to be detailed and specific, and that language is also included pointing out that updating the legal framework should not delay elections.

8.13 The Minister expects the Communication "to go to the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 16 March." She supports the recommended response:

"Article 96 consultations will allow the EU to put pressure on the Guinean leadership to restore constitutional order and ensure a peaceful democratic transition. The EU has made its position clear, which we support, that elections should take place this year. Notwithstanding the Article 96 talks the EU should make it clear that it stands ready to help fund the elections to a significant degree."

8.14 Looking ahead, the Minister says that the EU is a member of the International Contact Group for Guinea (ICG-G) which was set up during the AU Summit in February and includes, among others, members from the AU, ECOWAS, EU and UN; and the transition road map the Commission proposes to discuss with the Guinean authorities during Article 96 consultations reflects the position of the ICG-G.

Conclusion

8.15 The Committee has taken a particular interest in the Article 96 process in Guinea Bisseau because the undertakings given by the GOG were all in areas in which success, or failure, might well have much wider lessons, or repercussions, not just for the Cotonou Process but also European Security and Defence Policy; a number of other countries in the region are similarly challenged, against a background in which the inter-relationship between development, security and good governance was now widely acknowledged.

8.16 As we have noted elsewhere, the Cotonou Agreement is clear: respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law are essential elements of the partnership, with the Commission characterising the revision of the political components in 2005 as "strengthening the political dimension by placing greater emphasis on effective dialogue and results"; against the yardstick set out in those last four words, it is difficult to find much persuasive evidence that the Article 96 process has, to use the Ministers words, led to the Cotonou provisions being taken seriously — after over 5 years of Article 96 engagement, Guinea would seem to be no nearer than it was then to a functioning democratic and law-based society.[39]

8.17 Time alone will tell whether the apparently wider process now being established will be any more successful. In the fullness of time, we assume that, as before, a Council Decision will be forthcoming on concluding these consultations, with the adoption of further benchmarks and monitoring. However, before then, we should like a report from the Minister, before the summer recess, on what has been agreed and what progress has been made; we should particularly like to know if elections are put at the forefront of a detailed and specific transition road map (and pointing out that updating the legal framework should not delay elections) and how many of the mission's recommendations have been implemented.

8.18 We now clear the document.





37   See http://ec.europa.eu/development/geographical/cotonouintro_en.cfm for full information on the Cotonou Agreement.  Back

38   See headnote: (26227) 16041/04 and (29544) 7499/08, at chapter 7 of this Report. Back

39   See (26227) 16041/04 and (29544) 7499/08 at chapter 7 of this Report. Back


 
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