Stefania Bianchi

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries fear that a renewed partnership agreement with the European Union (EU) could threaten their trade relationship with the US. After almost one year of negotiations, the EU concluded ministerial negotiations on the revision of the Cotonou agreement with a group of ACP countries on Feb. 23. While the group welcomed the efforts made by the European Commission, the EU executive, and the Luxembourg presidency of the EU, they expressed regret that the outcome of the negotiations “did not meet all ACP expectations.”

The agreement, which links the EU and 77 ACP countries, was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou in the West African country Benin. The deal is designed to fight poverty through dialogue, development aid and closer economic and trade cooperation, and requires ACP countries enjoying special trading status with the EU to respect human rights and democratic principles. The agreement has to be reviewed every five years. Outstanding issues, which had not been resolved during earlier talks included a reference to the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the International Criminal Court (ICC) and negotiations on a new financial protocol.

The EU had been pushing ACP countries to agree to ratify the ICC as part of the negotiations. But ACP countries remain concerned that any inclusion of the ICC in the new agreement will threaten their own trade relations with the US. The ICC, which came into being a year ago, is the first permanent global criminal court to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and massive human rights abuses. But the court has been an irritant in trans-Atlantic relations since 2001 when President Bush started his first term in office. While the EU champions the court, the US has refused to sign up to it. The EU added a clause tying the non-proliferation of WMD to eligibility for EU aid — an article, which has been a sticking point during the negotiations. The EU agreed to provide ACP states with additional resources to enable them to fight against the proliferation, and also accepted ACP proposals to designate the international organisations qualified to judge violations of such agreements. A new financial protocol was also negotiated for the next five years.

The EU agreed to make available to the ACP countries a sum at least equivalent to that of the 9th and current European Development Fund (EDF) “with a percentage increase based on the EU inflation rate, the EU’s growth rate, and contributions from the 10 new EU member states.” The EDF delivers development aid to ACP countries. Brussels also pledged to make additional budget lines available to the ACP states to offset potential adverse effects of the regional trade Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the bloc’s sugar regime, which will come into effect in 2006.

While the ACP group welcomed the new financial provisions and support for the effects of the changing trade relationships, it says a fixed sum of funding would have been preferable. The European Commission says the aim of the negotiations has been to “improve the efficiency and to strengthen the quality of the partnership” while preserving the fundamentals of the Cotonou agreement. Jean-Louis Schiltz, Luxembourg minister for cooperation and humanitarian action, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the agreement marked an important step for development. The revised version of the Cotonou

Agreement is expected to be signed in Luxembourg in June 2005. — IPS