19 The EU/ACP Partnership Agreement
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13184/13
COM(13) 597
| Draft Council Decision on the Position to be taken within the EU/ACP Council of Ministers regarding the revision of Annex IV to the EU/ACP Partnership Agreement
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| Legal base | Articles 209 and 218(9) TFEU; QMV
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| Document originated | 22 August 2013
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| Deposited in Parliament | 2 September 2013
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| Department | International Development
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 13 September 2013
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| Discussion in Council | October 2013
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
19.1 The EU/ACP Partnership Agreement (also known as the Cotonou
Agreement) between the European Community and African, Caribbean
and Pacific (ACP) states was signed in June 2000 for a period
of 20 years and is a mixed agreement covering trade, development
cooperation (through the European Development Fund EDF) and political
relations.
THE DRAFT COUNCIL DECISION
19.2 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 13 September
2013, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department
for International Development (Lynne Featherstone) explains that,
within the current Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations,
the Commission is aiming for a coherent set of implementing rules
for all external financial instruments under the Budget and EDF
as of 1 January 2014; and that this requires further technical
adjustments to bring Annex IV of the Cotonou Agreement in line
with the Commission's legislative proposals for the budget instruments.
19.3 The Minister continues her explanation thus:
"The Commission proposes that simplification
of the provisions of Annex IV (the Economic Partnership Agreement
(EPA) negotiations), will improve the efficiency of the implementation
of the EDF. Changes are proposed to Article 19 on the awarding
of contracts, Article 20 on eligibility for procurement contracts,
Article 22 on the possible derogations from this standard eligibility
criteria, and Article 26 on preferences.
"The Commission proposes to amend Article 19c
so that contracts and grants are performed in accordance with
applicable environmental legislation, including multilateral environmental
agreements, as well as the current requirement of internationally
recognised basic standards of labour law.
"In Article 20.1 the Commission proposes that
participation in procurement contracts or grants is widened beyond
ACP States, Member States of the EC, official EC candidate countries,
Member States of the European Economic Area and countries for
which reciprocal access to external assistance has been established
by the Commission. The new proposal now includes developing countries
and territories which are not members of the G-20 group, and Member
States of the OECD in the case of contracts implemented in a Least
Developed Country or a Highly Indebted Poor Country.[46]
"Following these changes, Article 20.3 now extends
the originating country of supplies and materials purchased to
all of the eligible countries in Article 20.1. An additional clause
has been added that these may originate from any State
when the amount of the supplies and materials purchased is below
the threshold for use of the competitive negotiated procedure.
"A new paragraph 9 article in Article 20 allows
for the possibility for this eligibility to be restricted, for
example with regards to the nationality or localisation of tenderers,
if this is necessary due to the particular nature or objectives
of a project or other action.
"The Commission note that they aim to simplify
Article 22 which deals with derogations, the possible exceptions
to the standard eligibility criteria which should usually apply.
Article 22.1 sets out that tenderers and supplies not generally
eligible may be accepted at the justified request of the ACP States.
This is particularly when countries have traditional economic,
trade or geographical links with neighbouring countries or due
to the urgency or unavailability of products and services in the
markets of the countries concerned.
"The update to Article 26 on preferences has
been rewritten for clarity, although the regime rules remain the
same. One addition to Article 26.1 accords a 15% price preference
for supply contracts less than EUR 300 000 submitted by ACP firms,
which can be in a consortium with European partners. The UK will
seek clarity on this wording to ensure that European companies
do not end up being the main beneficiaries of a price preference."
19.4 The Minister says that the effect of this
proposal should be to simplify Annex IV, whilst bringing it in
line with the innovations proposed for the implementation of other
external financial instruments under the EU Budget:
"In particular, proposed amendments will lead
to widening participation in procurement contracts and grants,
beyond ACP States and Member States of the EU to all developing
countries and territories. The same is true for the country of
origin of supplies and materials purchased under these contracts.
This is a positive evolution which should improve the competitiveness
of the procurement process and hence the value for money of EDF
procurement."
The Government's view
19.5 The Minister says that, overall, the Government
broadly supports the EU's aim of simplifying, clarifying and harmonising
the EDF's procurement and management procedures with those governing
contracts funded from the EU budget.
19.6 She continues her comments thus:
"DFID's Multilateral Aid Review noted that a
weakness of the Commission's procurement practice was the stringent
eligibility criteria for procurement and grant procedures for
nationals of certain countries, which constituted a tied aid clause
and potentially reduced value for money. This amendment of Annex
IV will go some way to correcting this, by extending the countries
eligible to tender under the procurement exercise. However, it
is also positive that there is the possibility to derogate from
the standard eligibility in certain situations, for example in
order to better further the aims of a project or in cases of urgency.
"The UK also agrees that ACP contracts and grants
should comply with any applicable environmental legislation including
multilateral environmental agreements."
19.7 Looking ahead, the Minister says that the
proposal will be discussed and reviewed for approval in the ACP
Working Group in September and may be ready to go to Council for
decision in October, thus establishing the European Union position;
the EU-ACP Joint Council of Ministers will then agree its decision
by subsequent written procedure.
Conclusion
19.8 The Minister explains the proposal clearly.
It would seem to be entirely beneficial. Her one concern appears
to be minor; though yet to be resolved, we are confident that
she will be able to do so satisfactorily. We are nonetheless
drawing the proposal to the attention of the House because of
the widespread interest in development issues.
19.9 We now clear the Council Decision.
46 Defined by the OECD-DAC (the Minister's footnote). Back
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