The Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

Statement by Hon. William Haomae, Co-President of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of the Solomon Islands at the joint ACP-EU Press Conference on 29 May, 2009.

The 34th ACP-EC Council of Ministers has just concluded and let me express my great satisfaction for the manner in which this meeting was conducted and specifically how some of the key issues were addressed. 

Again, the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) were passionately debated by both sides.  The fact that this Council meeting took place three weeks after the ACP-EC Joint Ministerial Trade Committee meeting proved to be an advantage since the state of play of EPAs in the ACP regions were reported to Ministers.  There is much to be done on the ACP regional fronts but just the same there was commitment to continue with the negotiation process, and implementation for the Caribbean region.  In front of EU Trade Commissioner Baroness Catherine Ashton, the ACP Group again expressed two key demands in relation to the EPA process; (a) the need for greater flexibility in these exercises, and (b) that no country should be worse off at the end of the process.  On both points, I was pleased that some EU countries as well as Commissioner Ashton expressed words of accommodation to these pleas. 

The 2nd five-year revision of the Cotonou Agreement was also launched during this Joint Council meeting.  I believe that both the ACP Group and the European Union, in light of global trends and respective needs of member-states, would ensure that a revised agreement would be one that is relevant and applicable to the reality and demands of the world today.  The ACP Group looks forward to a successful conclusion of this negotiation process by early 2010. 

The Joint Council also seize the opportunity to reflect on the international economic and financial crisis.  The problem is now affecting all the countries disproportionately, and its effects vary according to the level of development of each country.  In the low-income countries, and particularly for ACP member states, the impact of the crisis poses problems of health and education, etc., due to the increasing number of poor people and the worsening hunger situation.  Unlike in the developed countries, budgetary constraints in the low-income countries have left governments very little room for maneuver, undermining thereby their capacity to react effectively. 

Thank you very much.