Communication from the Commission to the Council concerning the opening of consultations with the Republic of Guinea under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement
Date: 2003-08-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Guinea, democratisation, election, rule of law, the EU's international role

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 26.8.2003
COM(2003) 517 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

concerning the opening of consultations with the Republic of Guinea
 under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement

   
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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

concerning the opening of consultations with the Republic of Guinea
 under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement

Article  9(2)  of  the  ACP-EC  Partnership  Agreement  signed  in  Cotonou  on
23 June  2000,  to  which  the  Republic  of  Guinea  is  a  signatory,  defines  the
essential  elements  on  which  the  partnership  is  based,  among  which  are
democratic principles and the rule of law.

Over recent  years the international community has witnessed a deterioration in
the  democratic  environment  in  the  Republic  of  Guinea.  This  amounts  to  non-
respect of the essential elements defined in Article 9 of the Agreement.

During the presidency of General Lansana Conté, Guinea embarked in 1990 on
a  process  of  democratisation  with  the  adoption  of  the  Basic  Law,  which
provided for elections by universal suffrage and the establishment of the rule of
law.  In  1992,  the  country  adopted  a  multi-party  system.  Presidential  elections
followed  in  1993  and  parliamentary  elections  in  1995.  Although  these  first
elections  were  not  free  of  irregularities,  opposition  parties  were  able  to  play  a
full  part in  the  Guinean  institutions  and  the  poll  was  considered  acceptable  by
the international community.

These positive developments were interrupted by the 1998 presidential elections
when  opposition  leader  Alpha  Condé  and  a  number  of  his  supporters  were
arrested for contesting the way the elections were held and the official results. A
deterioration in the democratisation process was observed in the 2000 municipal
elections  which  were  marked  by  violence.  The  opposition  also  contested  the
results  of  those  elections.  The  opposition  parties  of  Alpha  Condé,  the
“Rassemblement du peuple guinéen” (RPG, Rally for the Guinean People), and
Sydia  Touré,  former  prime  minister  and  leader  of  the  “Union  des  Forces
Républicaines”  (UFR,  Union  of  Republican  Forces),  failed  to  win  a  single
municipality  despite  attracting  a  significant  percentage  of  the  vote  in  certain
prefectures. Finally, the legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2000 were
postponed  because  of  unrest  on  the  country’s  borders  with  Liberia  and  Sierra
Leone.

The  democratisation  process  worsened  further  when  the  party  supporting  the
President,  the  “Parti  du  Peuple  et  du  Progrès”  (PUP,  Party  for  the  People  and
Progress),  announced  in  2001  its  intention  to  amend  the  Basic  Law  by
referendum  after  the  National  Assembly  had  already  rejected  the  draft
amendment. The amendments involved the abolition of the limit to the number
of presidential mandates, enabling President Conté to stand a third time, and the
appointment  of  heads  of  district  (chefs  des  quartiers  et  districts).  Previously
they had been elected. These reforms were considered a step backwards for the
young  Guinean  democracy.  In  its  statement  on  25  October  2001,  the  EU
expressed  concern  at  the  possible  consequences  of  the  referendum  for  the
country’s  stability  and  democratic  development  and  called  for  observance  of

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constitutional rules, maintenance of the balance of powers, liberalisation of the
media and  establishment of  a  framework for fair and transparent  elections.  On
8 November 2001, the EU once again expressed its concern to the Government,
urging  it  to  observe  criteria  enabling  the  referendum  to  be  held  in  democratic
conditions.  Ignoring  the  opinion  of  the  international  community,  Guinea  held
the  referendum  on  11  November  in  dubious  circumstances.  Immediately  after
the  publication  of  the  official  results  (87%  turnout  and  98%  “yes”  vote)  the
international  community  represented  in  Conakry  expressed  its  reservations
about the conduct of the referendum and called on the Government to postpone
the  legislative  elections  scheduled  for  27  December  in  order  to  create  an
acceptable  electoral  environment  for  all  political  parties  in  Guinea.  During  his
visit 
in  December,  Hans  Dahlgren,  special  EU  Presidency
representative  for  the  Mano  River  countries,  reiterated  the  request  to  the
Government  to  postpone  the  elections  in  order  to  ensure  they  were  conducted
properly. He also asked for an election observer mission to be invited to Guinea
to  monitor  this  process.  Mr  Dahlgren  spelled  out  the  minimum  conditions  for
EU  support,  notably  the  creation  of  an  independent  election  supervisory  body,
neutrality  of  the  Administration,  a  commitment  by  all  the  parties  involved  to
renounce  all  forms  of  violence  and  the  presence  of  an  international  electoral
observation team.

to  Guinea 

international  observers.  Given 

As  a  result  of  this  international  pressure,  the  Government  decided  to  postpone
the legislative elections and generally expressed interest in obtaining support for
the
the  electoral  process  and  receiving 
importance of domestic  political  stability for Guinea itself and  for the stability
of  the  whole  Mano  River  region,  and  in  view  of  the  EU  requests  to  the
Government  to  postpone  the  elections  and  invite  observers,  the  EU  sent  out  a
fact-finding mission in April 2002 to assess progress in the electoral process and
gauge  whether  giving  support  for  the  elections  and  dispatching  observers  was
desirable, useful and  viable. The mission concluded  that the  conditions  set  out
under  point  5  above  for  democratic  elections  had  not  been  met.  The  EU
therefore decided not to become involved in a process already marred by serious
irregularities and devoid of any real competition given the absence of a number
of representative opposition parties.  It  has therefore not  provided financial and
technical aid or sent out election observers.

However, the EU decided to continue monitoring the run-up to the presidential
elections  scheduled  for 2003, a  key element in  the electoral  cycle  in  which  all
the  parties  met  have  said  they  were  ready  to  participate.  In  October  2002,
Mr Dahlgren,  special  EU  Presidency  representative  for  the  Mano  River  Union
countries,  again  had  talks  with  the  authorities  and  reiterated  the  minimum
conditions required by the EU for democratic elections. On 14 November 2002,
Danish Foreign Minister Moeller and Commissioner Nielson wrote to President
Conté on behalf of the EU stressing the importance the Union attached to efforts
by  the  authorities  to  carry  out  electoral  reform.  In  January  2003,  a  ministerial
delegation  from  Guinea  handed  over  the  President’s  reply  and  had  talks  with
Mr Dahlgren  and  Commissioner Nielson.  Neither  the reply nor the  discussions
with the ministerial delegation pointed to a genuine commitment on the part of
the  Government  to  make  progress  in  this  dossier  and  the  EU  asked  the
delegation  to  provide  further  information  on  the  reforms  actually  undertaken
since the fact-finding mission of April 2002.

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At this stage, six months before the scheduled date of the presidential elections,
it has to be concluded that there has been no real progress on electoral reform.
Nor have the Guinean authorities shown any sign of moving in the near future
towards  a  genuine  process  of  democratisation.  The  authorities  informed
Mr Dahlgren during his visit to Conakry in April this year that President Conté’s
health did not allow progress to be made. However, the electoral campaign for
the outgoing president launched in January 2003 was continuing.

The  Commission  considers  that  the  gradual  deterioration  in  the  democratic
environment  described  above,  notably  the  dubious  referendum  of  November
2001,  the  undemocratic  parliamentary  elections  in  June  2002,  and  the  lack  of
positive signs of imminent change in the situation amount to non-respect of the
essential  elements  set  out  in  Article  9  of  the  Cotonou  Agreement.  The
Commission therefore considers that the political dialogue under Article 8 of the
Agreement,  launched  with  a  view  to  improving  the  political  climate,  has  been
conducted exhaustively during the last two years. Regular dialogue between the
Member  States’  and  European  Commission’s  heads  of  mission  in  Conakry,
contacts  between  the  special  representative  for  the  Mano  River  Union,
Mr Dahlgren,  and  the  Guinean  authorities,  correspondence  between  the
European  Union  and  the  European  Commission,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the
Guinean Government, on the other, and the visit by the ministerial delegation to
Brussels  in  January  2003,  are  proof  of  this.  It  is  therefore  necessary  to  open
consultations with the Republic of Guinea, in accordance with Articles 9 and 96
of the Agreement.

The objectives of these consultations are :

(cid:1)  to  stress  the  importance  the  EU  attaches  to  electoral  reform,  and  notably  to  ensure

that:

–  all the actors involved in the electoral process can play their roles freely,

–  the  political parties  can  prepare  for  elections  and  their  candidates  can  stand

for election and campaign without hindrance,

–  the  media  is  free  to  provide  political  information  and  analysis,  without
hindrance  and  without  risk  of  harassment,  so  that  voters  can  make  an
informed choice,

–  voters can vote for the candidates of their choosing,

–  an election supervisory body can be created with genuine autonomous power

to intervene, free from the influence of the Administration or any party.

The consultations will also determine

(cid:1)  whether Guinea intends starting a genuine dialogue with the various opposition parties

in order to get the reforms mentioned above under way,

(cid:1)  whether it is necessary to take appropriate measures under Article 96 of the Cotonou

Agreement.

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For  these  reasons,  the  Commission  proposes  that  the  Council  invite  Guinea  for
consultations under Articles 9 and 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, in accordance with the
draft letter attached.

The Commission proposes during the consultation period to continue the activities under
way financed under the sixth, seventh and eighth EDF, except for the budgetary support
programme  2002,  the  disbursement  of  which  has  not  yet  been  made.  However,  it
proposes postponing the signing of the strategy paper for the period 2002-2007.

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ANNEX

DRAFT

Brussels,

S.E. Monsieur Kazaliou BALDE
Ambassadeur de la République de Guinée
Avenue Roger Vandendriessche, 75
1150 Bruxelles

Your Excellency,

The European Union has on several occasions expressed its concern about the development of
democracy  in  Guinea  and  its  desire  to  see  electoral  reform  create  the  conditions  for
democratic elections.

By letter of 14 November 2002, Minister Moeller, President of the Council of the European
Union, and Commissioner Nielson expressed the EU’s desire to see concrete commitments on
the part of the Guinean authorities on the abovementioned reforms, notably in order to ensure
that:

(cid:1)  all the actors involved in the electoral process can play their roles freely,

(cid:1)  the political parties can prepare for elections and their candidates can stand for election and

campaign without hindrance,

(cid:1)  the media is free to provide political information and analysis, without hindrance and risk

of harassment so that voters can make an informed choice,

(cid:1)  voters can vote freely for the candidates of their choice,

(cid:1)  an election supervisory body can be created with genuine autonomous power to intervene,

free from influence of the Administration or any political party.

In accordance with Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, We have the honour, on behalf of
the  Community  and  the  Member  States  of  the  European  Union,  to  invite  your  country  for
consultations in order, as provided for in the Agreement, to study the situation in depth and,
where necessary, take steps to remedy it.

We  propose  that  these  consultations  take  place  in  the  near  future,  at  a  date  to  be  agreed
jointly, in the building of the Council of the Union.

We have the honour to be, Sir, yours faithfully,

For the Council

For the Commission

Copies: The Chairman of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors

The Secretary-General of the ACP Group

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