46 Cotonou Agreement: implementing the
latest revision
| (a)
(31534)
9255/10
+ ADD 1
COM(10) 211
(b)
(31663)
10383/10 COM(10) 279
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Draft Council Decision on the signature, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement amending for the second time the Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States
Draft Council Decision on the position to be adopted by the European Union within the ACP-EC Council of Ministers concerning the transitional measures applicable from the date of signing to the date of entry into force of the Agreement amending for the second time the Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States
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| Legal base | Articles 217 and 218 TFEU; unanimity
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| Document originated | (a) 30 April 2010
(b) 27 May 2010
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| Deposited in Parliament | (a) 25 May 2010
(b) 4 June 2010
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| Department | International Development
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| Basis of consideration | EMs of 7 and 11 June 2010
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| Discussed in Council | 14 June 2010 Foreign Affairs Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
46.1 The Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the African, Caribbean
and Pacific (ACP) states and the European Community and its Member
States was signed in June 2000 for a period of 20 years, subject
to five-year reviews. Cotonou provides the legal basis governing
the political, commercial and developmental relations between
the two parties, and a framework to allow coordinated EU action
in ACP countries on issues such as human rights, good governance,
rule of law and migration. The agreement also contains the objectives
for the European Development Fund (EDF), which provides development
assistance to the ACP states.
46.2 The European Commission negotiates with the ACP on behalf
of the EU on the basis of a mandate agreed by Council. Negotiations
on the Second Review of the Agreement started on 29 May 2009 and
were concluded at an extraordinary Joint Ministerial meeting in
Brussels on 19 March 2010. The EU negotiator, Commissioner Piebalgs,
and the Gabonese Secretary of State Bunduku-Latha as the ACP representative,
initialled the revised Agreement with amendments as detailed in
chapter 1 of this Report.[186]
The first Council Decision
46.3 Document 9255/10 contains the draft Council Decision to allow
the President of the Council to sign the revised Cotonou Agreement
and to make the necessary amendments to bring the Cotonou Agreement
into line with the Lisbon Treaty.
The Government's view
46.4 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 7 June 2010, the Secretary
of State for International Development (Mr Andrew Mitchell) explains
that this draft Decision is the first of the legal documents required
to finalise the Second Revision of Cotonou. He says that the revised
Agreement "meets the overall EU aims as agreed at the outset
and provides a good framework for the EU's relationship with the
ACP states." He describes the references to the Accra Agenda
for Action on aid effectiveness, the Monterrey aid commitments
on financing for development, the Paris aid effectiveness principles
and the need for all parties to make a concerted effort to achieve
the MDGs as "all important for future efforts to improve
the effectiveness of actions by the EU and by the ACP states themselves
to secure progress towards the MDGs", and also says that
"recognition in the text of the serious global challenge
of climate change reinforces the need for the EU to act to tackle
climate change and address its impact in developing countries."
46.5 He again highlights the revised Article 33 on
taxation as important:
"Taxation has a key role to play in mobilising
domestic resources for development and reducing reliance on external
aid. The Article promotes participation in international tax cooperation
processes and compliance with international standards, in line
with the G20 tax transparency initiative. In this context, a number
of ACP countries, particularly Caribbean countries with significant
financial sectors, are concluding tax information exchange agreements
with G20 and OECD countries. The Article on taxation should also
facilitate a wider range of ACP countries participating in, and
benefiting from, international tax transparency."
46.6 The Secretary of State also welcomes the commitment
in the Joint Declaration on migration to continue dialogue and
enhance co-operation in this area:
"An agreement in the future will be helpful
but the UK's bilateral readmission agreements with many ACP countries
are not directly dependent on Cotonou and remain in force."
46.7 The Secretary of State then points out that
Article 96 of the Agreement maintains the process which the two
sides (ACP and EC) should follow should there be a breach in "essential"
elements — respect for human rights, democratic principles
and the rule of law —commenting and that:
"they remain of crucial importance in securing
progress in all developing countries. The UK will support work
to implement this Article effectively."
46.8 The Secretary of State also points out that
the Agreement contains updated language on trade and new text
to reflect Economic Partnership Agreements, and says that the
Agreement "reflects a balance between the interests of the
ACP countries in maintaining their trade preferences with the
EU and the EU's freedom to negotiate trade agreements with third
parties."
46.9 He goes on to welcome:
"the modifications to the programming sections
of the revised Agreement, in particular the streamlining of the
Intra-ACP programming and the increased flexibility of allocation
processes. The latter will ensure that the Commission is better
placed to respond to global shocks such as the financial crisis,
for which it had to develop a specific response mechanism (the
Vulnerability-Flex) due to the limited flexibility under the current
Agreement."
46.10 Finally, the Secretary of State supports the
proposed changes to the Cotonou Agreement to bring it in line
with the Lisbon Treaty as outlined in the Decision, which he says
is "a necessary step for consistency."
The second Council Decision
46.11 This draft Decision is the second of the legal
documents required to finalise the Second Revision of the Cotonou
Agreement. The next step will be for all parties to take forward
the ratification process. Parties to the Agreement have two years
to ratify the revised text for it to come formally into force.
The draft Decision allows for the revised Agreement to come provisionally
into force whilst the ratification process takes place.
The Government's view
46.12 In a separate Explanatory Memorandum of 11
June 2010, the Parliamentary Secretary at the Department for International
Development (Mr Stephen O'Brien) says:
"whilst this makes little difference to individual
EU Member States, it means that it can provide a revised framework
for the European Commission to use in its programming and implementation
work. If the European Commission was to wait for ratification,
it would mean that the next programming process (envisaged to
start in 2011) for country strategies in the ACP countries would
be informed by the existing First Revision of Cotonou, which is
now out of date. The UK therefore welcomes this provisional application."
46.13 The Minister again notes that:
— the
revised Agreement does not commit the EU to any further funding
after the current European Development Fund 10 (EDF10), which
expires in 2013;
— discussions
on ACP funding post-EDF10 will take place alongside the broader
discussions for the Financial Perspectives (2014 — 2020);
and
— the
European Commission will, however, use the revised Agreement to
influence their programming for ACP countries up until 2015, when
this Agreement will next be considered for revision.
46.14 Finally, the Minister says that this Decision
is also scheduled to be approved by the Foreign Affairs Council
on 14 June, before the final Agreement is signed on behalf of
the EU at the ACP-EU Ministerial Council on 22 June in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso; and that, following signature, the European Parliament
will need to give its consent to the Agreement, before the Council
can adopt a third and final Decision on conclusion of the Agreement.
Conclusion
46.15 No questions arise from the procedure or
the documents. But we are nonetheless drawing them to the attention
of the House because of the importance of the Agreement and the
revisions to it.
46.16 As we note above, we consider this elsewhere
in our Report, and have recommended that it be debated in the
European Committee.[187]
46.17 In the meantime, we now clear these Council
Decisions.
186 See (31447)-: "Second Revision of the Cotonou
Agreement - Agreed Consolidated Text" in chapter 1 of this
Report. Back
187
See chapter 1 of this Report.
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