Debate: The Post-Cotonou Agreement
Date: WEDNESDAY, 6 JULY 2022
Speaker: Virginijus Sinkevičius
Language: EN

These three regions, covering 79 states and inhabited by 1.5 billion people, constitute an international force and are of strategic interest to the European Union. We have all agreed that we wish to strengthen and deepen our relationship with those regions in order to better address emerging needs and global challenges – be it climate change and biodiversity, the pandemic or peace and security. On that basis, we negotiated a modern and ambitious agreement, reached a political deal in December 2020, and Minister Dussey from Togo and Commissioner Urpilainen initiated the draft new agreement in April 2021.  It lays down the common principles of our partnership for the next 20 years and marks a step towards a new era for the relationship between the EU and Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions. Our relations with these three regions are vivid and dynamic. Since the initiating ceremony, the EU deepened its partnership with Africa at the successful sixth EU—African Union Summit and renewed relations with the Indo-Pacific region at the Indo-Pacific Forum in February 2022. We are also working to reinforce our partnership with the broader Latin America and Caribbean region.  Honourable Members, we are, however, missing an important piece of the puzzle. We have still not signed and applied the draft post—Cotonou Agreement. This delay has not gone has not gone unnoticed. On 9 June,  our partners expressed, in the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, their serious concerns about the delay in signing the new agreement. They urged the concerned EU Member States blocking the approval to positively consider facilitating the normal functioning of relations. Given this circumstance, we had to extend the current Cotonou Agreement once again until June 2023 so as to avoid any  legal vacuum in the relations with our partners.  It is high time that we follow through so that people in the EU, Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific will fully benefit from this agreement. This is also essential for unlocking the full potential of our global gateway and regional strategies.  I believe that the Commission and the European Parliament share the same sense of urgency to sign and apply the agreement as soon as possible. The ball is at the moment not in the Commission’s court. In order to apply and for the agreement to come into effect, it is for the Council to adopt the relevant decision on signature and provisional application. This should be a top priority for the Council of the EU, and we hope that it will adopt such a decision very soon so as to be able to move towards the signature of the new agreement swiftly.  The current geopolitical context, characterised by instability and insecurity makes this even more urgent. We just lived through a pandemic which left its mark on our society and economy. Now, Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine is further aggravating the situation. I firmly believe that in times of geopolitical instability and global challenges, strong partnerships are key in finding solutions. In this spirit, let me reiterate my call to the Council to take action and come up with a clear timeline detailing the steps towards the signature of the post—Cotonou Agreement.