Development cooperation between the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
(EU) and the countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2007. Although bilateral relations have always been and still remain one of the main features of modern development cooperation, it was the
Treaty of RomeThe Treaties of Rome are two of the treaties of the European Union signed on 25 March 1957. Both treaties were signed by The Six: Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany....
in 1957 which first established a collective European development policy. The Treaty of Rome granted associated status to 31 overseas collectivities and territories (OCTs) and provided for the creation of a
European Development FundThe European Development Fund is the main instrument for European Community aid for development cooperation in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories ....
(EDF) intended to grant technical and financial assistance to the countries which were still under European rule at the time. More significantly, however, by means of the Treaty of Rome the six Member States of the
European Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community was an international organisation that existed between 1958 and 1993 which was created to bring about economic integration between Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.It was...
were expressing solidarity with the colonies and OCTs and committed themselves to contribute to their prosperity.
The European Union
Beginning in the 1960s a group of 6 nations in Western Europe, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, created the European Economic Community (EEC). These member states began expanding with the adoption of the United Kingdom, developed into the European Community, a group of 15 nations, and was the foundation for the modern-day European Union
The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
Similarly to European expansion, at the time of the Treaty of Rome, there were a limited number of nations involved. Beginning with 18 countries and territories that had special relations with the member states, the so called Associated States gained membership, eventually establishing the group known as the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.
The Yaoundé Agreements
The first cycle of the EDF was designed for a period of five years and took effect in 1959. As it drew to a close, however, many of the OCTs had regained independence and new arrangements were necessary. In 1963, representatives of the EEC Member States and 17 African countries and Madagascar met in Yaoundé, Cameroon, to sign their first partnership agreement in history. The group of developing countries which signed the final agreement were granted preferential trade arrangements such as the duty-free access of specified African goods into the European market. In addition, it was agreed to continue support via the EDF and the
European Investment BankThe European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution established in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome. A policy-driven bank, the EIB supports the EU’s priority objectives, especially European integration and the development of economically weak regions...
(EIB) (p.29).
In 1969 the agreements made in the first
Yaoundé ConventionThe Yaoundé Convention was a convention signed in the city of Yaoundé, Cameroon between the EC and ASMM .-The First Convention :...
were renewed by the second Yaoundé Convention which lasted until 1975.
One of the most important aspects of Yaoundé was its foundation on the recognition of national sovereignty of all participating countries. It was furthermore not only unprecedented in its form but also unique in its comprehensiveness, covering aspects from financial and technical assistance (through the EDF) to investment and capital movements (through the EIB) to
trade preferenceA Trade Preference is when one country prefers buying goods from some other country more than it would from other countries. It grants special support to one country over another. It is the opposite of a Trade Prohibition.- See also :*Trade Mandate...
s. The structure established in Yaoundé remains the framework for many aspects of ACP-EU cooperation until today.
The Lomé Conventions
The Yaoundé II Agreement expired in 1974 and was succeeded by a new Convention, signed in and named after the capital of
TogoTogo is a country in West Africa bordering Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located...
:
LoméLomé, with an estimated population of 737,751, is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels. It also has an oil refinery.-Lomé Today:The...
. The establishment of a new preferential trade agreement instead of a continuation of the old one was incited by both unsatisfactory outcomes of the previous arrangement as well as changes in the European political framework. From the developing countries’ point of view, the call for new negotiations was prompted by the strong neo-
colonialColonialism is the building and maintaining of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. Sovereignty over the colony is claimed by the metropole...
aspects which were still detectable in the Yaoundé Agreement and the disappointing economic results it had produced. From a European point of view, the development strategy experienced a shift from a regional to a more global approach with the introduction of the
Generalized System of PreferencesThe Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, is a formal system of exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization ,...
(GSP) in 1971. Simultaneously, the accession of the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
to the
European CommunityThe European Community is the first of the three pillars of the European Union created under the Maastricht Treaty . It is based upon the principle of supranationalism and has its origins in the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union. If the Treaty of Lisbon comes into...
in 1973 meant that the
FrancophoneThe adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
focus of development policy was soon shifted to include the developing countries of the
Commonwealth of NationsThe Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
.
The
Lomé ConventionThe Lomé Convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Community and 71 African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries, first signed in February 1975 in Lomé, Togo.- History :...
was an attempt to rectify the inefficiencies created in Yaoundé and to address the various points of criticism it had been subjected to. As a result of the enlargement and in line with the more global development policy of the EC a group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries joined forces to enter into negotiations. The Agreement was signed after 18 months of negotiations in February 1975 by the nine EC Member States and 46 developing countries which became formally known as the
ACP countriesThe African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States is a group of countries , created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. The group's main objectives are sustainable development and poverty reduction within its member states, as well as their greater integration into the world's economy...
. Although colonial ties with Europe remained to be a decisive factor for the new signatories’ participation, the composition of the group of developing countries showed a slow diversification of European development policy and therefore silenced some of the voices which had criticised the selective approach of Yaoundé.
The Cotonou Agreement
The relationship between the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 Member States, located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht on 1 November 1993 upon the foundations of the pre-existing European Economic Community...
(EU) and the ACP group changed significantly during the 1990s. The historical ties which had been the most prominent features of earlier agreements had been eroded and the ACP countries’ importance to the EU was diminished. In the light of the completion of the
Single MarketA common market is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a customs union with common policies on product regulation, and freedom of movement of the factors of production and of enterprise. The goal is that the movement of capital, labour, goods, and services between the members is as easy as...
Programme in 1992 and due to the end of the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
, the EU had turned towards development issues which were a bit "closer to home", namely in
Central and Eastern EuropeCentral and Eastern Europe is a term describing former communist states in Europe, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989/90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept...
. Although the relationship between the EU and the ACP countries was continued it was marked by the changing political situation of its time. The wave of
democratizationDemocratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system...
which reached many developing countries after the end of the Cold War led to a previously unknown politicization of development cooperation. Additionally, the continuing absence of the economic rewards expected from Lomé, its continuing incompatibility with
General Agreement on Tariffs and TradeThe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade was the outcome of the failure of negotiating governments to create the International Trade Organization . GATT was formed in 1947 and lasted until 1994, when it was replaced by the World Trade Organization in 1995...
(GATT)/
World Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an international organization designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade , which...
(WTO) provisions and the complexity the Lomé Conventions had assumed were reasons why a new agreement was drawn up in
CotonouCotonou is the economic capital of Benin, as well as its largest city. Its official population count was 761,137 inhabitants in 2006; however, some estimates indicate its population may be as high as 1.2 million. The population in 1960 was only 70,000. The urban area continues to expand, notably...
, the capital of
BeninBenin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north; its short coastline to the south leads to the Bight of Benin....
.
The
Cotonou AgreementThe Cotonou Agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States . It was signed in June 2000 in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, by 79 ACP countries and the then fifteen Member States of the European Union...
is the latest of the PTAs between the EU and the ACP group. It was signed in June 2000 by 77 ACP countries and the EU-15. It is designed to last for a period of 20 years and is based on four main principles: partnership, participation, dialogue and mutual obligations, and differentiation and regionalisation. Building on the experience of nearly 40 years of development cooperation, the Cotonou Agreement introduced some important innovations.
One of the most significant changes was the introduction of a political dimension to EU-ACP development cooperation. This aspect of Cotonou has been subject to some of its fiercest discussion and criticism because it linked development cooperation to
conditionalityConditionality is a concept in international development, political economy and international relations and describes the use of conditions attached to a loan, debt relief, bilateral aid or membership of international organizations, typically by the international financial institutions, regional...
. Respect for
human rightsHuman rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
,
democracyDemocracy is a system of government in which either the actual governing is carried out by the people governed , or the power to do so is granted by them...
and the
rule of lawThe rule of law, also called supremacy of law, means that the law is above everyone and it applies to everyone. Whether governor or governed, rulers or ruled, no one is above the law, no one is exempted from the law, and no one can grant exemption to the application of the law.Rule of law is a...
have become so-called "essential elements" the violation of which can lead to partial or total suspension of
development aidDevelopment aid or development cooperation is aid given by governments and other agencies to support the economic, social and political development of developing countries.It is distinguished from humanitarian aid as being aimed at alleviating poverty in the...
. Conditionality is one of the issues which have been considered to be undermining the principle of equal partnership on which Lomé was based.
Another important innovation of the Cotonou Agreement was the acknowledgment of the
civil societyCivil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state and commercial institutions of the market.-Definition:There are myriad definitions of civil...
and especially the
private sectorIn economics, the private sector is that part of the economy which is both run for private profit and is not controlled by the state. By contrast, enterprises that are part of the state are part of the public sector; private, non-profit organizations are regarded as part of the voluntary...
as an essential element to foster economic development, represented in the principle of participation. Therefore, provisions were included at Cotonou which ensured the participation of
non-state actorNon-State Actors, in international relations, are actors on the international level which are not states. The admission of non-state actors into international relations theory is inherently a rebuke to the assumptions of realism and other "black box" theories of international relations, which argue...
s in ACP countries in the policy process of their respective state. Furthermore, the Cotonou Agreement put more emphasis on regional integration within the ACP group and especially in Africa.
The most radical change which the Cotonou Agreement implied was the establishment of the so-called
Economic Partnership AgreementsEconomic Partnership Agreements are a scheme to create a free trade area between the European Commission of the European Union and the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. They are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade...
(EPA's) which are scheduled to take effect in 2008.
See also
- ACP EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
- Foreign relations of the European Union
Although there has been a large degree of integration between European Union member states, foreign relations is still a largely inter-governmental matter, with the 27 members controlling their own relations to a large degree...
- European Development Fund
The European Development Fund is the main instrument for European Community aid for development cooperation in the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories ....
- The Courier (ACP-EU)
The Courier is an ACP-EU development magazine published by the Development Directorate General of the European Commission, focusing on ACP-EU Development Cooperation. Financed by the European Development Fund , it is published every two months...
: The magazine of Africa-Caribbean-Pacific and European Union cooperation and relations
External links