Communication from the Commission to the Council on conclusion of consultations with Niger pursuant to Article 366a of the Lomé Convention and taking of appropriate steps
Date: 1999-07-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU relations, Niger, democracy, fourth Lomé Convention

COMMISSION OF THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 08.07.1999 
COM( 1999)350  final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

ON CONCLUSION OF CONSULTATIONS WITH NIGER PURSUANT TO 
ARTICLE 366a OF THE LOME CONVENTION AND 
TAKING OF APPROPRIATE STEPS 

Communication from the Commission to the Council 

On conclusion of consultations with Niger pursuant to article 
366a of the Lome Convention and taking of appropriate steps. 

1.  EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The President of Niger, Mr. Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, was assassinated by his presidential 
guard on Friday, 9 April at Niamey airport. 

On 11  April the National Armed Forces adopted the following measures: 

•  Suspending the Constitution; 

•  Dissolving the National Assembly, the Government and the Supreme Court; 

•  Setting up a  Council  of National Reconciliation  with  full  powers  for  the transition 

period of 9 months. 

The coup d'etat was immediately condemned by the international community 

The European Union has condemned the coup, demanded a swift return to democracy and 
launched consultations with ACP/I^iger, pursuing the consultation procedure foreseen in 
article  366a  of the Lome  IV  Convention  in order  to  asses  the  situation  in  detail.  The 
objective was to underline the importance attached by the European Union to respecting 
the essential elements referred  to in article 5 of the Convention and to find out  Niger's 
intentions regarding compliance with them. 

On  18 May the consultations took  place in Brussels  (Council Doc. N° 7729/99)  in an 
open and constructive  atmosphere.  On behalf of the European Union, the chairman of 
COREPER delivered a declaration calling for: 

•  Full respect for human rights and democratic principles 

•  A credible and verifiable timetable for return to democracy 

•  Transparent, free and fair elections 

•  Pluralism and transparency including freedom of the press 

•  Full power to be given to the civil government 

•  Non-eligibility  for  members  of  the  National  Reconciliation  Council  for  the 

forthcoming elections 

•  An investigation of the circumstances of the assassination of president Bar6 

•  Regular progress reports to be prepared during the transition period 

The Delegation  of Niger,  headed  by the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  provided  general 
information  on  the  political,  economic  and  sociologic  situation  in  the  country.  The 
delegation, which confirmed  that democracy will be re-established  and power be handed 

over  to  a  democratically  elected  president  at  the  end  of  1999, presented  the  authorities 
plan for the transition period  including  a timetable for free  elections. 

Furthermore,  the  delegation  of  Niger  presented  a  number  of  political  commitments, 
which to some extent reflected  the issues and concerns raised by the European Union. 

At  the  end  of  the  consultations,  the  EU  presidency  stated  that  the  European  Union 
welcomed  the  declared  intentions  of  Niger  to  return  to  democracy,  but  reiterated  that 
additional  commitments  were  needed  on  two  issues:  the  conduct  of  an  investigation  of 
the circumstances  of the assassination of president Bare and additional power to be given 
to the civil government during the transition period. 

Responding to these two concerns, the Niger  authorities presented  on 3 June a document 
to  the  European  Union,  which  provided  additional  commitments  on  the  two  remaining 
issues  and  provided  a report  on  steps  already  taken  in  order  to prepare  the  transition  to 
democracy in Niger. 

In  order  to  assess  further  the  situation  in  the  country  and  to  prepare  the  Commission's 
proposed  strategy for the transition period, the Commission  sent an evaluation mission to 
Niger  which  visited  the  country  between  6  and  11 June.  During  this  mission  meetings 
were  held  not  only  with  relevant  authorities  (military  and  civilian)  but  also  with 
representatives  of  the  civil  society  (associations,  NGO's,  political  parties,  intellectuals, 
etc).  The  mission  concluded  that  basic  civil  rights  are  now  being  respected  and  that  a 
number  of  measures  have  already  been  taken  to  prepare  the  transition  to  democracy  in 
line with a credible plan for the remaining period. 

However,  the  mission  also  identified  a  number  of  potential  risks  for  the  transition 
process, which cannot be neglected. 

While the Niger  authorities thus have provided  a number of commitments  relating to the 
restoration  of  democracy  and  political  rights,  Niger  is  only  now  entering  a  transition 
period,  which  hopefully  will  lead  to  the  declared  objective.  The  Commission  notes  that 
respect  for  democratic  principles  and  political  rights  has  not  yet  been  ensured  and  that 
there is consequently a continuing failure to respect one of the essential elements  referred 
to  in  Article  5.  While  the  Niger  authorities  have  committed  themselves  to  the  re-
establishment  of  democracy  by  the  end  of  1999, the  Commission  proposes  that  the  EU 
decide,  as  appropriate  measures  under  Article  366a,  paragraph  3,  of  the  Lome 
Convention,  to  re-establish  cooperation  with  Niger  only  on  a  gradual  and  conditional 
basis,  as  set  out  in  a  draft  letter  enclosed.  If,  at  the  end  of  the  transition  period  the 
conditions  for  re-establishing  full  co-operation  under  the  Lome  Convention  have  not 
been met, the Commission will present a new proposal for the Council on what  additional 
measures may be called  for. 

2.  PROPOSAL 

In  light  of  the  above  and  pursuant  to  articles  5 and  366a  of  the  Lome  Convention  and 
Article 2 of  Councils  framework  decision  1999/214/EC, the Commission proposes  that 
the Council decide to: 

Conclude the consultations held with Niger and take, for a period ending on 31 December 
1999, the steps set out in the draft  letter enclosed to the draft  Council decision as follows: 

PROPOSAL  FOR A 
COUNCIL  DECISION 

Concerning the conclusion of  consultations with 
ACP/Niger pursuant to article 366a of the Lome 
Convention and adoption of appropriate steps. 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

having regard to article 5 and article 366a of the Lome IV Convention, 

having  regard  to  Council  decision  1999/214/EC  on  the  procedure  for  implementing 
Article 366a of the fourth ACP-EC Convention, in particular its article 2, 

having regard to the proposal of the Commission, 

whereas  essential  elements  of  the  Lome  IV  Convention,  as  referred  to  in  its  article  5, 
have been violated, 

whereas  open  and  constructive  consultations  with  ACP/Niger  took  place  on  18  May 
during which  a number  of  specific  commitments  were  taken by  the  authorities  of  Niger 
aiming at  reestablishing democracy by the end of 1999, 

whereas  respect  for  democratic  principles  and political  rights have not yet been  restored 
in Niger, 

whereas  it  is  thus  necessary  to  adopt  special  steps  to  support  the  re-establishment  of 
democracy  and political rights during  the transition period, 

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS : 

Article 1 

The  consultations  held  with  Niger  under  article  366a,  paragraph  2  of  the  Lome 
Convention are hereby  concluded. 

Article 2 

The measures specified  in the draft  letter attached are hereby adopted as appropriate  steps 
envisaged in Article 366a, paragraph 3 of the Lome IV Convention. 

This decision expires on 31 December  1999. 

Article 3 

DRAFT 

Dear Madam, 

In its declaration of 14 April  1999, the EU roundly condemned the coup d'Etat in Niger 
during which President Bare was assassinated. Moreover, the EU deplored the suspension 
of the Constitution as well as the dissolution of the Parliament and the Government. 

The EU attaches great importance to the provisions of article 5 of the Lome Convention. 
Respect for human rights, democratic institutions and the rule of law constitute essential 
elements of this Convention and thus form a fundamental basis for our relations. 

The  EU  considers  that  the  assassination  of  the  President  Bare  and  the  coup  d'etat 
including  the  dissolution  of  the  democratic  institutions,  were  serious  violations  of  the 
above mentioned principles and included acts of unacceptable violence. 

In this light,  the EU decided  on 29 April  1999 to  invite the Niger  government  and the 
ACP States to hold consultations with a view to assessing the  situation in detail and to 
remedy it. 

On  18  May  the  consultations  took  place  in  Brussels  in  an  open  and  constrictive 
atmosphere  during  which  a  number  of  fundamental  issues  were  addressed  and  the 
government's plan for  return to democracy was presented.  During these consultations  >-
and later confirmed in its letter to the EU dated 03 June  1999 - the government of Niger 
made the following political commitments for the transition period : 

•  An official  inquiry on the  circumstances  of the  assassination  of President  Bare will 

take place 

•  Extended power to the civil government. 

•  Organisation of free and fair elections according to the following timeschedule : 

July 1999 : referendum 
October 1999 : 1st round of presidential elections 
November  1999 : 2nd round, presidential elections  as well as elections for Parliament 
December 1999 : investiture of a democratically elected president 

•  Separation of power including an independent  judiciary 

•  Pluralism and transparency to be respected  during the transition period incl.  freedom 

of press and free access to the media. 

•  Respect of the National Reconciliation Council's own decision according to which its 

members will not be eligible for the forthcoming elections 

•  Good governance 

•  Preparation of monthly progress reports  during the transition period 

In view of these commitments, the European Union and its Member States are ready to 
conclude the consultations held under Article 366a of the Lome Convention.  As respect 
for democratic principles and political rights have not yet been fully restored, the EU has 

5 

decided,  as  appropriate  steps  under  Article  366a,  paragraph  3,  to  take  the  following 
measures accompanying Niger's transition to democracy: 

•  For already approved programmes : implementation will continue as scheduled 

•  For future programmes : a gradual, conditional approach will be adhered to  reflecting 
documented progress in the transition process. In the early phases of the transition EU 
aid will focus on election support and then gradually open into areas of direct benefit 
to the population like actions of humanitarian nature as well as actions related to food 
security, health and education ending up with a normalised co-operation at the end of 
the transition period.  Budget  support earmarked for these sectors is foreseen  at the 
end of the transition period provided that a framework  agreement with IMF has been 
established. 

The EU will follow the transition process closely, reserves the right to revise its position 
should  the  need  occur  and  reiterates  the  importance  of a  continuous  political  dialogue 
with the authorities of Niger in order to  re-establish  democracy and political rights and 
normalise relations between Niger and the EU 

For the Commission 

For the Council 

Copy ; Ambassador of Zimbabwe 

Mrs Aichatou Mindaoudou 

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation 

ISSN  0254-1475 

COM(1999)350  final 

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