- Business News : Fiji accedes to the agreement on port state measures [14/02/2019 - Italy]
- Sports News : Tahiti concerned about Pacific Games accommodation [14/02/2019 - Samoa]
- News Feature : A rising China and the future of the “Blue Pacific” [14/02/2019 - Fiji]
- Business News : $503.73 million in remittances top Samoa foreign exchange earner [14/02/2019 - Samoa]
- Business News : Vanuatu export breakthrough to New Caledonia [14/02/2019 - Vanuatu]
- Business News : PINA head cites importance of content sharing [14/02/2019 - New Zealand]
- Business News : Pacific Islands government should consider seabed mining impacts [14/02/2019 - Fiji]
- News : Beijing intensifies lobbying of Pacific nations to recognise Taiwan as part of One China [14/02/2019 - Fiji]
- News : American Samoa, Guam, Samoa added to EU blacklist, Vanuatu removed [14/02/2019 - Luxembourg]
- News : TSI: money the focus of elections, Police arrest a man in Honiara for alleged electoral offence [14/02/2019 - Solomon Islands]
- News : Fiji Immigration will extend or renew expiring passports to another 10 years [14/02/2019 - Fiji]
- News : Solomon Islands election chief appeals to citizen not to break the law [14/02/2019 - Solomon Islands]
- Sponsored : Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC)

The partnership between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group needs to change to remain relevant after 2020.
The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) today released an independent political economy analysis study looking at the partnership that links 79 ACP countries with the EU, and mobilizes a large development budget of 30.5 billion euros.
The current partnership is over 40 years old, and is underpinned by the legally binding Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which will expire in 2020.
“Discussions on the future of the EU-ACP partnership beyond 2020 are currently in full swing, and the stakes are high. However, the relevance and the effectiveness of the partnership is being questioned,” explained Ewald Wermuth, Director at ECDPM.
ECDPM initiated this study with a view to promote an open and well-informed discussion.
The study found the current Cotonou Partnership Agreement’s framework is not well suited to cope with the new global development agenda, and has a limited track record on delivering on several of its core commitments.
“Rethinking the ACP-EU is no time for business as usual. When this partnership was set up 40 years ago, it was groundbreaking. However, the real challenge now is to be as innovative as they were then, and find new arrangements that generate benefits for all parties that can hold for the next 20 years,” added Wermuth.
“What is lacking in this debate is solid evidence on the concrete practice of ACP-EU cooperation. A political economy analysis can help to address this gap, as it does not look at what is desirable, but at how things work out in practice and why,” explained Geert Laporte, Deputy Director of ECDPM.
The political economy analysis found:
• The ACP-EU Partnership has over time lost traction and the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) is now primarily an aid delivery mechanism with limited political and trade value.
• The overall performance of the ACP-EU partnership (beyond aid) has remained below expectations, and subsequent revisions have not been able to address a major implementation gap between the laudable ambitions and actual practices.
• Globalisation and regionalisation dynamics have severely affected the scope and capacity for collective action between the ACP and the EU.
• The added value of the ACP Group and the Cotonou Agreement vis-à-vis other key players (African Union and Regional Economic Communities) and political partnerships is increasingly unclear. ACP countries tend to ‘go regional’ to address their most pressing challenges.
• The ACP-EU framework is not suitable to effectively and efficiently address the universal 2030 Agenda, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
As a result, it is doubtful that technical fixes, aimed at improving the implementation of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, will suffice to revitalise ACP-EU cooperation. The relevance of the framework itself is the core issue – geographically, politically and institutionally.
Rather than following the path of least resistance and focusing on a limited reformulation of the existing agreement, the ECDPM study suggests that it might be in the interest of all parties in the EU and the ACP to jointly explore alternative options.
This could lead to more legitimate and solid arrangements, aligned to regionalisation dynamics and adapted to the international cooperation challenges of the 21st century.
SOURCE: ECDPM/PACNEWS
News feature
Pacific Islands News Association
Who & What is PINA? Membership Member Countries Media Freedom Training PINA Convention Awards Contact Gallery Forum Events Jobs Classifieds |
PACNEWS
Home Regional Feature Business Sports Archives |
Partners
Communications Initiative International News Safety Institute (INSI) UNDP PC AusAID NZAID SPREP ONOC UNAIDS Media Helping Media |
Partners
PIFS SPC IFEX UNESCO AIBD GFMD SEAPA WPFC IFJ |