Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Signed in 2000 for a period of 20 years, the Cotonou Agreement, which governs relations between the EU and the then African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States, was supposed to expire in February 2020. While negotiations for a successor Agreement ended in December 2020, the signature of the Agreement only took place in Samoa on 15 November 2023 due to repeated delays.

The Samoa Agreement provisionally entered into force in January 2024, which is very much welcome as the new agreement provides for a strengthened, modernised and more ambitious framework for cooperation that goes beyond traditional development cooperation. The Agreement builds on the important acquis and sets a flexible framework built around a common Foundation applicable to all parties and tailor made regional protocols for Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific respectively. Furthermore, the new partnership builds on several international agreements and identifies the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change as overarching guiding frameworks.

The Samoa Agreement is based on six joint priorities: human rights, democracy and governance; human and social development; inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development; environmental sustainability and climate change; and migration and mobility. The new Partnership Agreement offers enhanced space for dialogue and the Rapporteur welcomes the provisions on global alliances and international cooperation, with both parties stressing their commitment to the rules-based international order and to promoting international dialogue and seeking multilateral solutions to drive global action forward.

The Rapporteur stresses the importance of ensuring development effectiveness and results and welcomes the Agreement acknowledging that means of cooperation should be diversified, encompassing a range of policies and instruments, from all available sources and actors. However, the implementation of the Agreement needs to be supported by a meaningful budget under the NDICI-Global Europe Instrument and efforts should be made to maintain the level of support towards the ACP partners in the coming years.

Strong links also need to be established between the Samoa Agreement and the Global Gateway initiative, which was launched in December 2021. Given the magnitude of the needs and the level of investment required to meet the Agenda 2030, the Rapporteur believes that it is crucial to mobilise other forms of development finance, which need to be aligned with development policy objectives.

The Rapporteur insists on the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in the strengthening of the political dialogue between the EU and the OACPS. Democratic accountability needs to be ensured at all levels of the Agreement and there is an important role to the played by the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the three new Regional Assemblies in this regard.

The Samoa Agreement recognises that engagement with stakeholders, notably local authorities, civil society, and private sector representatives, is integral to well-informed decision-making and to furthering the objectives of this Partnership. The Rapporteur calls therefore for the rapid setting up of an open and transparent mechanism for structured cooperation in order to ensure the effective participation of stakeholders during the implementation phase of the Agreement.

In accordance with Article 218(6) TFEU, the consent of the European Parliament is required in order for the Council to adopt a decision on the conclusion of the Agreement.

In the light of the above, the Rapporteur recommends the Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement.