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| Name |
Formal Name |
Established |
| (acronym) ACP Group |
African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States |
6 June 1975 |
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Cooperation between the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (the ACP states) and the European Community (EC) dates back to the creation of the EC and is a particularly important aspect of the European Union's development policy and its policy on external relations in general. The 1957 Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community (EEC) initially formed the legal basis for cooperation with this group of countries (as well as the OCT ) which at the time were, for the most part, colonies of certain Member States.
The Yaoundé I and II Conventions between the AAMS (Association of African and Malagasy States) and the EEC, signed in 1963 and 1969 respectively, constituted the first step in the creation of the partnership.
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Since 1975 relations between the ACP states and the EC have been governed by the Lomé Conventions, which have established a close, far-reaching and complex partnership. Cooperation focuses on two key elements: economic and commercial cooperation, and development cooperation.
One fundamental aspect of economic and commercial cooperation established by the first Lomé Convention is the system of trade preferences. This system ensures that manufactured products and agricultural products entering the Union that are not in direct competition with products covered by the common agricultural policy are not subject to customs duties or quantitative restrictions. There is no reciprocal clause for the ACP states, which are merely obliged to apply the most favoured nation clause to the Union and to refrain from discriminating between countries of the Union. Other specific provisions apply to products of vital importance for the economy of several ACP states, such as bananas, rice and sugar.
Development cooperation is ensured through a sectoral approach . This involves specific operations in various sectors such as health, education, the environment and so on.
The main financial and technical instruments of the partnership are the European Development Fund (EDF) and the resources of the European Investment Bank (EIB), which are allocated in various forms, including grants and risk capital.
The partnership establishes a genuine political dialogue which is responsible for implementing the partnership. This dialogue is based on three main institutions: the Council of Ministers, the Committee of Ambassadors and the Joint Assembly. In general, the signing of the Conventions coincided with the relevant European Development Fund (EDF) and lasted a minimum of five years.
Lomé IV, the last Lomé Convention, was signed in 1989 for a duration of 10 years and introduced many important new ideas. The promotion of human rights and respect for democracy became key elements of the partnership whilst new objectives such as enhancing the position of women and protecting the environment were incorporated in the framework of cooperation. Another important feature is decentralised cooperation , namely involvement in the development process of other actors such as civil society.
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The arrival of the new millennium witnessed a significant change in ACP-EC relations. The Lomé IV Convention expired on 29 February 2000 and a new partnership agreement was signed in Cotonou, Benin, on 23 June 2000. It entered into force on 1 April 2003. This agreement establishes a new approach and represents a new stage in the partnership whilst retaining the main instruments of the partnership (institutions, financial instruments, etc.). It aims to strengthen the political dimension of the partnership, to provide new flexibility and to entrust the ACP states with additional responsibilities. Under the Cotonou Agreement, new trade agreements compatible with the WTO rules will be negotiated (negotiations for the new regional economic partnership agreement began in October 2003 with the Economic and Monetary Committee of Central Africa and the Economic Community of West African States). Trade between the two parties will thus be liberalised, putting an end to the system of non-reciprocal trade preferences and enabling the ACP states to participate fully in international trade. Nonetheless, the current system remains in force during the transitional period, until 2008 at the latest.
Over the years, many new ACP states have joined the Partnership, which totals 78 today. The Cotonou Agreement identifies the least-developed ACP states which, in certain cases, benefit from special treatment. It should be noted that in December 2000, Cuba became the 79th member of the group of ACP states. However, Cuba still does not participate in the new partnership agreement. The 78 ACP States which participate in this agreement are as follows:
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ACP States (excluding the least-developed ACP States) South Africa (not fully), Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville), the Cook Islands, the Ivory Coast, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Fiji, Gabon, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia (Federated States of), Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, the Seychelles, Surinam, Swaziland, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Zimbabwe.
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Least-developed ACP States (LDCs) (as listed in Annex 6 of the Cotonou Agreement) Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Republic of Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Madagascar, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, the Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor Leste, Tuvalu, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia.
In addition, some of these countries are landlocked and also benefit, under certain conditions, from special provisions under the Cotonou Agreement.
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Landlocked ACP States Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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Address:
African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States
451 avenue Georges Henri
1200 BRUXELLES (Belgium)
Telephone : (32 2) 743 06 00
Fax : (32 2) 735 55 73
URL: http://www.acpsec.org
Contact : info@acpsec.org
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Organization
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Name: African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States
Address: 451 avenue Georges Henri - 1200 BRUXELLES (Belgium)
URL: #name
Contacts: Telephone : (32 2) 743 06 00 - Fax : (32 2) 735 55 73
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