Resolution on the upcoming negotiations for a new partnership agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

2018/2634(RSP)

The European Parliament adopted a resolution tabled by the Committee on Development on the upcoming negotiations for a new Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, which are to start in August 2018 in anticipation of the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement in February 2020.

Parliament welcomed the main aspects and overall architecture of future cooperation between the ACP Group of States and the European Union proposed by the Commission. It noted that the Commission has largely taken into account Parliament’s view and that the common foundation and regional compacts will be legally binding to an equal extent, as requested by Parliament. Political dialogue based on mutual respect is a fundamental part of the Cotonou Agreement and it must remain a central and legal pillar in the overarching framework and at the regional level of the new agreement. Parliament called for increased civil society involvement in political dialogue, programming and implementation and support for capacity-building by civil society.

Members insisted that the essential elements of the Cotonou Agreement – respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democratic principles and the rule of law, and good governance – be maintained as the basis for cooperation post-2020 and be part and parcel of the foundation agreement and the regional compacts and protocols. They also insisted on the need to ensure coherence between the principles laid down in the common foundation and the regional priorities defined in the compacts.

Parliament felt that the common foundation should include;

  • a clear provision on the full implementation by all parties of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
  • explicit reference to accountability, monitoring and review mechanisms in the case of non-compliance; the accountability of the parties towards citizens and civil society should also be ensured, and the joint institutions should provide for mechanisms to enable civil society and citizens to report cases of breaches of human rights obligations.

It also made the following recommendations:

  • EU and ACP cooperation should provide for a peer review mechanism for monitoring progress and gaps in implementing the SDGs on a regular basis, involving parliaments, local authorities and civil society, and regular evaluation of and public reporting on respect for human rights;
  • Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) should be fully integrated into the new ACP-EU Agreement;
  • the role and responsibilities of the private sector should be regulated, with particular emphasis on the need for enterprises involved in development partnerships to abide by the principles of corporate social responsibility throughout the lifecycle of projects;
  • the new agreement should include provisions on financial and technical assistance to developing countries to cope with emerging global standards on fighting tax evasion, including the automatic exchange of information, information on beneficial ownership of companies and on public country-by-country reporting of multinationals;
  • negotiating parties should include support schemes for sustainable agricultural practices in the new agreement.

Lastly, Parliament considered that the parliamentary dimension of the ACP-EU partnership should be further reinforced, with its Joint Parliamentary Assembly dialogue between Members and their ACP counterparts at the core of the new partnership.