WRITTEN QUESTION E-1393/02 by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Council. Enlargement and the potential impact on ACP countries.
Date: 2002-05-15
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: ACP countries, EU relations, accession to the European Union, aid policy, cooperation policy, extra-EU trade, generalised preferences, impact study

12.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309 E/117

(2002/C 309 E/137)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1393/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Council

(15 May 2002)

Subject: Enlargement and the potential impact on ACP countries

Does the Council agree that it is regrettable that there has been no attention paid (cid:1) until now (cid:1) to the
impact of enlargement on ACP countries?

Reply

(30 September 2002)

As the Honourable Member is certainly aware, with their accession to the Union, the new Member States
will be required to apply the entire ‘acquis’, which includes all the commitments entered into under
policies pursued by the Union externally, and the Common Commercial Policy. The Union has a scheme
under the system of generalised preferences for the benefit of developing countries and, through the
Cotonou Agreement, which builds on twenty-five years of cooperation under the Lomé Conventions, a
comprehensive system of relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The new Member
States will be required to take on all the obligations of the Community and its Member States in these
areas, including that of contributing to the European Development Fund. Therefore, the ACP countries will
enjoy the same treatment and preferences by the countries acceding to the EU, and the new Member States
will be obliged upon accession to open their markets unilaterally for ACP products as is the case for the
present EU. Already now, the progressive alignment of the candidate countries’ positions with those of the
EU in the framework of external trade relations and in multilateral fora makes relations more reliable and
predictable for the ACP countries. Enlargement should enhance and improve the ACP countries’ trade
opportunities,
leading to increased trade flows and opening a wider market to their products under
harmonised conditions. It is worthwhile noting that, as a result of enlargement, the ACP export market will
grow from 380 million consumers to 500 million consumers.

In accordance with Article 94(3) of the Cotonou Agreement, during the ongoing accession negotiations
both Parties exchange their views on relevant issues resulting from the enlargement of the EU. Enlargement
has been on the agenda of the annual meeting of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and will also be
discussed during the up-coming Council in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) on 28 June. The Honourable
Member’s attention is also drawn to the last paragraph of the aforementioned Article of the Agreement,
stipulating that ‘the Parties shall review the effects of the accession of new Member States on this
Agreement. The Council of Ministers may decide on any transitional or amending measures that might be
necessary’.

The Spanish Presidency convened a high-level meeting in April which brought
together the ACP
Ambassadors, the Ambassadors of the candidate countries, the Presidency and the European Commission
to allow an exchange of views on the state of play in the accession negotiations and the present ‘acquis’ in
the field of development cooperation. Discussions focused on perspectives for the European Development
Policy, the Cotonou system and the European Development Fund financing as well as the evolving trade
preferences given by the EU to the ACP countries under the Lomé and Cotonou Agreements. It was
concluded that consultations should be continued in the future in view of the developments in the
enlargement process.

(2002/C 309 E/138)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1399/02

by Hanja Maij-Weggen (PPE-DE) to the Council

(8 May 2002)

Subject: Precise target figures for EU Member States’ childcare capacity

Can the Council confirm that the Presidency conclusions of the recent Barcelona summit include precise
target figures for childcare capacity in the EU Member States?