EU launches public consultation on ties with African, Caribbean, Pacific nations

The European Union (EU) here on Tuesday launched a 12-week public consultation on the future of its partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries after 2020, when the current EU-ACP agreement will expire.

Different stakeholders will be consulted on more than 40 questions confronting issues about peace and security, tackling terrorism and organized crime, sustainable and inclusive growth, migration, and political cooperation.

EU foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini said the relationship had moved beyond development cooperation and trade over the last two decades, signalling it was time to assess the EU-ACP cooperation to identify new ways for the partnership to evolve.

European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica added that by launching the public consultation, the EU side was opening a debate to see which issues a future partnership could focus on and how this could be turned into an effective vehicle to promote the common interest.

The consultation will be a major component of the analysis the European Commission will carry out in 2016.

The current EU-ACP Cotonou Agreement is the most comprehensive partnership agreement that the EU has to govern the relationship between the EU and the over 70 developing countries in Africa, Caribbean and Pacific.

The Cotonou Agreement includes a political dimension, an economic cooperation and trade dimension, as well as development cooperation which is, in turn, linked to the financial instrument the European Development Fund. Endit