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

ACP PRESS STATEMENT NOMBEMBER 30 2009 

The President of the Republic of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, has expressed his happiness as the 18th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Luanda is one of the first major meetings to take place in his country since the end of civil war in 2002.

Opening the ACP-EU Joint Assembly in Luanda, Angola, the president said that such meetings often generate positive integration as leaders come together to address new challenges that are confronting the world today.

He also stressed the importance of the ACP-EU partnership in relation to addressing health and education issues in the ACP states.

Aid and development

In his final address, the outgoing Co-President, Wilkie Rasmussen, acknowledged that aid should never replace African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states' own development initiatives as well as maintenance of appropriate support that should be the foundation of economic development.

In acknowledging the importance of aid, Mr Rasmussen noted that "we must also admit that it is just but one of the ingredients of development."

He recalled that as had been pointed out in several sessions of the ACP-EU Assembly, there is no shortage of commitments and grand plans aimed at addressing ACP's development challenges.

"What is often lacking is political will to bridge the gap between commitments and delivery," Mr Rasmussen said.

He added, "Sometimes our partners forget that we too have been affected by the global crisis. In some countries, this has pushed even further backwards the little progress recorded towards the attainment of the MDGs,"

Based on that, the outgoing president suggested that ACP states too need a pragmatic stimulus package free of the neo-liberal economic thinking that had weighed down previous development policies in the mould of the Washington Consensus.

Revision of the Cotonou Agreement

Mr Rasmussen noted that revision needs to take into account the new institutions that will be created as a result of the EPAs, and of particular relevance to the Assembly are the proposals for Regional Parliamentary Committees to monitor the EPAs.

Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)

On EPAs, Mr Rasmussen stressed that without a comprehensive package to address the nascent and sensitive nature of the many ACP economic sectors, EPAs will not deliver on the promise of development.

Similarly, he noted that the exposure to competition with the EU imports will require significant funds for investments in ACP production and supply capacities, and for social and other accompanying or compensatory measures.

Achievements during his presidency

Recalling his two-year presidency, Mr Rasmussen noted two notable achievements, which include: the introduction of the regional meetings and the decision that the JPA should start receiving Country and Regional Strategic Papers (CRSP).

On the latter, the Co-President paid tribute to the effort of his European colleagues who wished to see that these documents that were already sent by the EC to the European Parliament were shared with their ACP colleagues in the JPA.

"I feel that this is one more step in bridging the democratic deficit in bilateral and regional agreements, an area in which most ACP Parliaments have no influence at all," he said.

The 18th Session of the ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly began today and will end on Thursday.

END