Overeenkomst over economische samenwerking centraal in ACP-EU conferentie (en)

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly is set to call this week, in a "Kigali Declaration" on trade, for extra time for ACP countries to negotiate a deal on the ACP-EU economic partnership agreements, for which a World Trade Organisation waiver expires at the end of 2007.

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), which brings together 78 MEPs and 78 parliamentarians from the African, Caribbean and Pacific states, is meeting in Kigali (Rwanda) from 19 to 22 November. The key speakers at the inaugural session on Monday 19 November were ACP-EU Co-Presidents Mrs Glenys Kinnock (European Parliament) and Mr René Radembino-Coniquet (Gabon).

Kigali Declaration

On Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the Joint Assembly is expected to adopt on Thursday the "Kigali Declaration", which would follow up the Cape Town Declaration of 2002, at the start of the EPA negotiating process. The Declaration is likely to call on the European Commission to recognise that ACP countries need more time to assess the implications of the proposed agreements.

The Assembly may also voice concern that if new agreements are not put in place, duties could be imposed on many exports from non-LDC ACP states from 1 January 2008, threatening the incomes of millions of ACP workers.

Commenting on the need for a new deal, Mrs Kinnock said: "The new arrangements should provide long term trade security and address some of the constraints that impede development. However, attempts to frame such agreements have proved difficult.

This is largely because the Commission negotiators have approached the talks on EPAs as if they were conventional free trade negotiations focused on market opening, rather than as tools for development. The ACP regions, on the other hand, have been concerned that the measures proposed by the Commission will not have their intended outcomes and could well jeopardise their development efforts, and hamper efforts to eradicate poverty. /_/

I trust we shall have in our Kigali Declaration a reference to the fact that the EU is actually obliged by Article 37 (6) of Cotonou to provide continual access for the non-least-developed (LDC) countries, on at last as favourable terms, whether or not they are able to conclude an EPA."

Mr Radembino-Coniquet said "_ the ACP countries are determined to envisage concluding EPAs only in so far as the serve the development aims fixed in the Cotonou Agreement. 

Some ACP regions could envisage signing interim agreements with the EU to enable trade to continue under the current rules, whereas others are not even able to opt for such an interim solution."

Resolution on the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Assembly is also likely to express concern about developments in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and its impact on the Great Lakes. A resolution will be put to the vote on Thursday.

The Assembly will also debate and vote on three reports on:

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  the Impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the African, Caribbean and Pacific States - Astrid Lulling (EPP-ED, LU) et Timothy Harris (St Kitts & Nevis);
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  Access to healthcare and medicines, with a particular focus on neglected diseases - John Bowis (EPP-ED, UK) and Martin Magga (Solomon Islands;
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  Elections and electoral processes in ACP and EU countries - Miguel Angel Martinez Martinez (PES, ES) et Betty Amongi (Uganda)

All resolutions and reports will be put to the vote this Thursday 22 November.

A "press point" with the Assembly's two Co-Presidents will be held after the votes.