The Cotonou Agreement is likely to continue to bind the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States for some months to come. The reason is that the Europeans are not yet ready to sign the new agreement before the end of June. (Le Mandat)
The Cotonou Agreement is due to expire on 30 June if the post-Cotonou agreement or the provisional application of the new agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States is not signed by then. Given the latest developments in the EU, it seems that the Cotonou Agreement will be on hold for a few more months. On Tuesday, EU diplomats were scheduled to discuss the transitional measures of the Cotonou Agreement, which are normally only taken to set new deadlines.
Is France not committed enough?
This is, in any case, what Jutta Urpilainen seems to believe, and she also mentions a lack of consensus within the EU member states. In response to Carlos Zorrinho’s question about when the post-Cotonou agreement will come into force, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships mentioned a blockage in the European Union Council, chaired by France since January. “We know that now it has been blocked by the Council. The procedure. So, I really hope that within the Council, the member States could be able to agree on that. I’am working closely with the French Presidency but now the French are very much focusing on their own elections. That’s the fact. Let’s see whether we are able to make some progress before the end of June,” she said on 10 May in a meeting with the European Parliament Committee on Development.
Read also Will the Cotonou Agreement become the Samoa Agreement by June?
During this meeting, the co-president of the ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly Carlos Zorrinho suggested that a further postponement of the signing of the post-Cotonou Agreement would weake the confidence of international partners in the European Union. “I think that you will agree with me that not having to extend Cotonou agreement once again and moving forward with post-Cotonou agreement is a decisive step for confidence and success of European Union international partnerships. Not only in Africa, not only in Caribbean, not only in Pacific. It’s important for the credibility of our global strategy, of our global programmes”.
Signed on 23 June 2000 for a provisional duration of 20 years, the Cotonou Agreement is therefore about to get a fourth extension.
