A year from now, negotiations will begin for a successor agreement to the Cotonou Convention.
The treaty, which expires in 2020, provides a framework for Europe’s development cooperation, political dialogue and economic relations with 79 nations in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (the ACP) which largely were former colonies.
Signed in 2000 and revised in 2010, the present agreement now embraces issues such as co-operation on security, climate change and regional integration. Initially the treaty detailed trade relations, but following the end of preference such provisions are now contained in region-specific economic partnership agreements such as the EU-Cariforum EPA.
The new agreement, however, is likely to be significantly different, and to this end the European Commission (EC) has begun drafting a negotiating mandate. Europe’s member states say that the Cotonou Convention’s successor must better relate to the EU’s overall