(Photo:
ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes (left) and the Interim
Chairman of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and Co-Chair of the ACP-EU
Joint Parliamentary Assembly Hon. Ibrahim Rassin Bundu, MP of Sierra
Leone. Click here for more photos)
Brussels, 13 October 2017/ ACP:
Members of Parliaments from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific
gathered in Brussels this week for the 47th session of the ACP
Parliamentary Assembly, as well as joint intersessional meetings with
Members of the European Parliament.
With
less than one year to go before negotiations begin for a new
partnership framework between the 79 members of the ACP Group of States
and the European Union, one of the key issues of concern for the ACP is
the state of preparations, including the shared principles and
rationales that would guide the process.
“Negotiations
for [a new ACP-EU partnership] are so important that all voices of the
ACP Group need to be heard, including parliamentarians, civil society,
etc. The ACP we want, must be people-driven… because the issues touch on
the ordinary lives of all ACP citizens,” emphasised the President of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim Rassin Bundu, MP of Sierra Leone.
Summarising discussions of the Assembly from 9-11 October, including an exchange of views with Brussels-based Ambassadors on Monday, the Secretary-General H.E. Dr. Patrick I. Gomes
noted the call from representatives for a “radical departure” from the
traditional relationship, marked by an “imbalance” between the two blocs of countries in terms of economic might and levels of technology and capacity.
Members
urged consolidated efforts to achieve a level of sustainable
development whereby ACP developing countries are able to progress from
being dependent exporters of raw materials, to being able to add value
to their own products.
“The
underpinnings of the entire process for a post-Cotonou Agreement rests
on the fundamental aim of achieving the structural transformation of ACP
economies,” said Dr. Gomes, referring to the current ACP-EU partnership
framework known as the “Cotonou Agreement” – a comprehensive and
legally binding treaty that governs trade, development cooperation and
political dialogue between EU and ACP countries. The agreement was
signed in 2000 in Cotonou, Benin, for a period of 20 years.
“Transforming
economic structures and investment strategies is essential to achieve
healthy and productive lives by the great majority in our societies and
not only for a few… This means productive resources must enable jobs,
particularly for youth, women and girls; investments must give equitable
returns to workers by living wages that improve the quality of life of
families; and education and health care must become available, at
reasonable or no costs,” he added.
These
aims, in line with the globally endorsed 2030 Development Agenda, are
captured in the policy framework document adopted by the ACP Council of
Ministers in May 2017 entitled “Towards the ACP we want.”
It cites three pillars that would steer the work of the ACP Group in
the future, including: (i) Trade, Investments, Industrialisation and
Services; (ii) Development Cooperation, Technology, Science and
Innovation/Research and (iii) Political Dialogue and Advocacy.
According
to the document, which was shared and discussed by Members of
Parliament, a Central Negotiating Group at both ministerial and
ambassadorial levels will be set up to lead talks with the EU side,
supported by Technical Negotiating Teams focussing on the strategic
pillars. Negotiations are set to start by August 2018, for a renewed
ACP-EU partnership framework to replace the current one expiring in
2020.
Following
the meetings of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly from 9th to 11th
October, members took part in joint meetings with European counterparts
from 11th to 13th October. These intersessional meetings of the Bureau
and Standing Committees of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA)
are in preparation for the upcoming 34th session of the JPA to be held
in Haiti, tentatively scheduled for 13th to 20th December 2017.
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