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

 

Introduction

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on assuming the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum and the Forum Secretariat for a well organized meeting.

As you might know, ACP-EU Cooperation is one of the most dynamic in the world, covering a wide range of areas such as trade, development assistance as well as support for peace, security governance and democracy in ACP States. Currently, the ACP Group is implementing a number of projects in cooperation with the European Commission on culture, education, information and communication technologies, science and technology, natural disasters facility and support for local government. These are all aimed at promoting and supporting the attainment of sustainable development in ACP States.

The ACP Group of States – A brief historical background

Cooperation between the EU and its ACP partners can be traced to the 1957 Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC), and provided for a special economic relationship for overseas territories and colonies of the 6 founding members of the Treaty. After successive Yaoundé and Lome Agreements from 1963 to 2000, the present Cotonou Agreement was signed on 23 June 2000, governing ACP-EU relations for the period up to 2020.  The Agreement has a lifespan of 20 years from 2000 to 2020, with provision for periodical revision every five years. The first revision was completed in 2005, and the partners are now engaged in the process of the second revision, due for completion in 2010.

The ACP Group of States itself was founded in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1975, with a permanent Secretariat based in Brussels, Belgium. It must be noted that the both the EU and the ACP Group have evolved and grown in membership. The ACP Group now comprises 79 countries with a combined population of about 730 million, from the initial 46 countries in 1975, while the EU has grown to 27 Member States from the founding 6 in 1957. The objective of ACP-EU cooperation is to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development in ACP States.

Funding under the European Development Fund (EDF)

The EDF is the primary vehicle for development assistance of the EU to the ACP Group. The funding has grown from €730 million at Yaoundé I to over € 22 billion in the 10^th EDF of the Cotonou Agreement covering the period 2008-2013.

To this end, the EDF has supported sectoral policies and reforms in education, health and the environment, institutional development and capacity building, macroeconomic and structural programmes, technical cooperation programmes, and humanitarian and emergency assistance.

I would now like to amplify a little on other aspects of ACP-EU relations, namely Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), political dialogue, peace and conflict prevention, international migration, urbanisation and Parliamentary cooperation.

Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)

Negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements have been the most prominent pre-occupation of the ACP Group for the past seven years.

Only the Caribbean Region of the ACP Group, through CARIFORUM, has been the only one that has managed to sign a comprehensive EPA Agreement with the EU. And even then, it was not without some reservations. Many other ACP States and Regions have opted instead, to initial interim agreements with the EU. Still others might wish to undertake interim agreements as subgroups of EPA regional integration configurations. This was always one of our principal fears about EPAs, that is, whether they will contribute to regional integration or lead to the fragmentation of the regions of the Group, and indeed the ACP Group itself.

EPAs should be tools that promote sustainable development and lead to increased levels of production and supply capacity in ACP States - both necessary instruments to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development.  

In some of our regions the incompatibilities between EPAs and the existing Regional Integration Agreements have contributed to the on-going difficulties in EPA negotiations. We are clear, EPAs should support and promote existing ACP regional integration processes, and not lead to the disintegration of ACP Regions. 

I want to call upon our principle partner, the EU, to be more flexible in its approach, allow for more time and have the interests of our countries and regions at heart when we negotiate.

Political Dialogue

The Cotonou Agreement introduced a political dimension into the partnership. The aim of this political dimension is to promote the consistency and relevance of ACP-EU development cooperation strategies and make it possible to address important issues such as peace-building and conflict-prevention policies as well as migration, since these have an impact on the effectiveness of development cooperation.

Political dialogue deals more specifically with two sets of pillars on which the ACP-EU partnership is founded: the first are the essential elements, i.e. human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law; and the second is the fundamental element, i.e. good governance. Serious violation of any of these elements, such as a coup d’Etat or a serious cases of corruption, abuse of human rights or democratic values, lead to consultations under articles 96 and 97 of the Cotonou Agreement between the two Parties and failure to find a solution that remedies the situation may lead to partial or complete suspension of the cooperation. Recent cases of consultation and partial suspension of cooperation include countries such as Mauritania, the Republic of Guinea, Madagascar and, closer to you, the Republic of Fiji. While being deeply and genuinely committed to the above-mentioned principles enshrined in the Cotonou Agreement, the ACP Group never relinquishes its support and assistance to its Member States to help them restore full cooperation with the EU.

Peace, Security and Conflict Prevention and Resolution

The Cotonou partnership provide for a range of mechanisms that can contribute to conflict prevention and management. In that regard, ACP Heads of State and Government welcomed the putting in place of the African Peace Facility by the EU which, through EDF-funded peace-keeping and peace building operations, has been very effective in minimizing the effects of conflicts in some African regions such as the Darfur (Sudan) and in the Horn of Africa. The ACP Group is now engaged in negotiations with the EU with a view to setting up similar facilities for the Caribbean and the Pacific Regions or extending the African Peace Facility to include these regions. The ACP Group supports many intitiatives of peace and conflict resolution that are being undertaken at the level of continental and regional integration organisations, such as the African Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Pacific Islands Forum.

International Migration and Development

One of the increasingly obvious implications for development cooperation is its relation to international migration, which has become one of the most important aspects of globalisation. Since migration always flows from poorer countries to those where economic opportunities are perceived to be better, migration has economic consequences for not only the countries of origin but of the destination country as well. There has been an intensification of the phenomenon of brain drain; the migration to developed countries of highly skilled and much needed professionals educated and trained at great public expense in ACP States. In recent times, some ACP States have lost so many doctors, nurses and teachers to developed countries that ethically, it is no longer viewed as brain drain but brain theft.

On the other hand, there is concern about the economic consequences of migration in Europe and the rest of the developed world. Aside from economic reasons, there are also those who migrate for political reasons, to escape civil war, ethnic strife or political reprisals and seek asylum. Every year, thousands of young African men attempt the perilous crossing by sea in rickety boats to the shores of Spain, Italy and Malta. Many perish at sea. Others are turned back at the EU’s borders. Those who make it spend many months in detention centres, and if they are finally granted asylum, they still face an uncertain future.

It must be noted that generally, ACP States have been more tolerant to migrants from other countries. Taking the Pacific States as an example, the large numbers of people of Indian or Chinese descent is a manifestation of this fact, not to mention those of Caucasian ancestry that migrated during the colonial era.

The ACP Group has responded to the challenge of migration through a number of initiatives, the most important being the creation of the Intra-ACP Migration Facility, to take account of migration issues in the development policies of the ACP States, such as to build capacities to ensure the effective management of migration through the establishment of country migration profiles, as well as to ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants.

The Parliamentary Dimension

Parliamentary involvement in the work of the Cotonou Agreement is regulated through the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), bringing together parliamentarians from the 27 EU member States and 78 ACP States..  The JPA embodies the democratic ideals of the parties to the Cotonou Agreement in that it brings together equal numbers of Parliamentarians from national legislatures in ACP States and from the European Parliament of the EU, to dialogue, exchange views and propose solutions to the challenges of development that the ACP-EU Partnership is engaged in resolving. It is the only institution of its kind; there is no other multilateral development body that includes within its treaty obligations the need to ensure the involvement of parliamentarians in such activities.

The ACP Group and the future

Today, I would like to provide the following perspectives on the role of the ACP Group and its future:

Creation of a single, unified voice of the developing world

The evolution of international relations and the changes in the geo-political environment over the last decade, necessitate a deep reflection by leaders on the role and relevance of international and regional organizations.  To this end, there is a need for consolidation and empowerment, and I would like to state publicly that the ACP Group of States is ready to fulfil a greater role in representing the voice of the developing world.  As the largest developing group in the world with a permanent Secretariat, and in existence for more than 30 years, it is my vision to consolidate and unify the many voices of the poor, the less developed and people in need in an unified, single body that can champion and amplify the cause of the developing world in the international arena.  I would like to use this forum to request our leaders to work towards this goal, and furthermore, call upon our developing partners to support this initiative.  Let us empower the ACP Group to work for sustainable development and the alleviation of poverty globally.

Coherence in development assistance

The current model of development cooperation is not working.  For more than 30 years, we in the ACP Group are asking what are the success stories of development cooperation.  There are not many, and our countries continue to be poor, and less developed.  It is about time that we have an international Summit dedicated to development.  In this regard, we in the ACP Group would like to challenge all our development partners, from the European Union to Australia, to convene a Summit where we can jointly determine our development objectives in a coherent and transparent manner.  Only through the pooling of resources and efforts that would allow for real capacity building and infra-structural development, will we be able to register and demonstrate sustainable development. 

Future of the ACP Group, and the role of Pacific ACP States

The ACP Group is on the move, and now is the time to consolidate our destiny.  In its numeric strength, the Group has so much potential, and it is our duty and obligation to represent the needs and expectations of the poor.  We can, and will make a difference to the lives of so many.  In this regard, the 15 Pacific ACP States can make an invaluable contribution and change the concept of development cooperation.  I call upon our Pacific ACP leaders to provide effective leadership to the Group in terms of its future by proposing that a group of 6 eminent persons, representing the six regions of the Group, be constituted to make concrete proposals and recommendations on the future of the ACP Group to the next Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government.  We need to revitalize our relationship with our principle partner, the European Union, and simultaneously, develop expanded relations with other global role-players to the benefit of our countries, and indeed the people.  I believe that an eminent persons group from the ACP would be able to provide sound advice to our leaders.