Cotonou Agreement

KEY POINTS

Main principles

The Cotonou Agreement is a close partnership based on a series of principles:

• the partners to the agreement are equal;
• the ACP countries determine their own development policies;
• cooperation is not only among governments – parliaments, local authorities, civil society, the private sector and economic and social partners play a role as well;
• Cooperation arrangements and priorities vary according to aspects such as countries’ levels of development.

Organisation

Joint institutions are in place to support the implementation of the Cotonou Agreement.

• The ACP–EU Council of Ministers, assisted by the Committee of Ambassadors:
  • conducts political dialogue;
  • adopts policy guidelines; and
  • takes decisions to implement the agreement.
• The council presents an annual progress report to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. This consultative body makes recommendations on the achievement of the agreement’s objectives.
• The Joint ACP–EU Ministerial Trade Committee discusses trade-related issues of concern to all ACP countries. It monitors the negotiation and implementation of economic partnership agreements. It also examines the impact of the multilateral trade negotiations on ACP–EU trade and the development of ACP economies.
• The ACP–EU Development Finance Cooperation Committee examines the implementation of development finance cooperation and monitors its progress.

Political dimension

The political dimension of the Cotonou Agreement is important and includes:

• a comprehensive political dialogue on national, regional and global issues;
• promoting human rights and democratic principles;
• developing peacebuilding policies, conflict prevention and resolution;
• addressing migration issues and security issues, including the fight against terrorism and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Activities

The agreement includes cooperation activities to boost:

• economic development focusing on the industrial, agricultural or tourism sectors of ACP countries;
• social and human development to improve health, education and nutrition services; and
• regional cooperation and integration to promote and expand trade among ACP countries.

These activities are funded through the European Development Fund and, since 2021, by the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument.

The agreement complies with World Trade Organization rules and enables ACP countries to play a full part in international trade.

Revision of the agreement

The agreement was signed in 2000.

It was most recently revised in 2017 by Decision (EU) 2017/435. In 2010, the agreement was adapted to focus on issues such as:

• climate change;
• food security;
• HIV/AIDS;
• sustainability of fisheries;
• strengthening security in fragile regions; and
• meeting the millennium development goals (replaced, in 2016, by 17 sustainable development goals).

Negotiations on a new agreement started in September 2018.

A communication was adopted in 2016 on a renewed partnership for the post-2020 period. It:

• builds on the UN’s 2030 agenda for sustainable development;
• supports the global strategy for the EU’s foreign and security policy, which provides strategic guidance on the EU’s external interests and ambitions;
• is coherent with the European consensus on development.