MEPs condemn Hungary’s post-Cotonou agreement blockade

EU-ACP Council meeting [EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET]

Hungary continues to block the European mandate to begin negotiations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, to the great displeasure of MEPs. EURACTIV.fr reports.

Negotiations between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries on the next Cotonou Agreement are at a standstill. At the occasion of the adoption of the negotiating mandate on 14 June, MEPs called on member states to adopt the mandate to formally begin negotiations with ACP countries.

“Member States have to decide unanimously on the negotiating mandate. This is why Hungary has blocked the mandate because of a disagreement on the issue of migration,” said the French MEP Mireille d’Ornano of the EFDD group in the European Parliament.

The Belgian MEP, Charles Goerens also pointed out Hungary ’s role when talking about the 27 EU countries that approved the negotiating mandate presented by the Commission. “So I take it that Hungary is blocking the negotiations,” said Goerens.

“The ACP countries adopted their negotiating mandate a few days ago in Lomé (Togo). It is now up to the Council to adopt its own,” stated the Development Commissioner, Neven Mimica.

The clock is ticking

The Cotonou Agreement, which was established in 2000, governs trade and political relations as well as supports cooperation between the EU and 79 ACP countries. This partnership is due to expire in 2020 and will have to be replaced with a new cooperation agreement.

European governments had to agree on a mandate to begin negotiations for the future Cotonou Agreement in May, so that negotiations could begin at the meeting of ministers of the EU and ACP countries on 31 May, in Lomé, Togo.

However, Hungary has refused to validate the negotiating mandate as it is opposed to the Commission’s stance on migration. Since this refusal the clock has been ticking as the formal launch of these negotiations should take place by August 2018, at the latest.

Negotiations on the post-Cotonou Agreement stumble on migration

Due to a lack of consensus on the issue of migration, member states cannot come to an agreement  on a mandate to begin negotiations on the future partnership agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. EURACTIV.fr reports

“There has been agreement on the negotiation mandate, except for one point,” said Monika Panayotova, who represented the Bulgarian presidency during the debate in plenary on 13 June. “The presidency will continue to strive to obtain a Council vote so that negotiations can begin as planned.”

However, the Bulgarian presidency has little time to finalise negotiations, as it must hand the rotating presidency over to Austria on 1 July.

Migration issue

In the resolution adopted by the European Parliament, MEPs support the principle of a future binding agreement between the EU and ACP countries and reiterate that the primary objective of the partnership is to eliminate poverty.

MEPs also regret “the Commission’s very unbalanced proposal on migration which places a strong emphasis on the return and readmission of migrants, and which includes an extremely limited provision on legal migration”

Migration control must be at heart of next EU-Africa pact, says EU

The EU will put migration and security at the heart of its agenda in talks on a successor to the Cotonou Agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific nations (ACP), a leading EU official said on Monday (26 March).

“I am a bit sad to see that we are only addressing these countries with the issue of migration,” said Belgian MEP, Maria Arena, who also mentioned the other multiple challenges that both partners face (environmental, demographic, economic).

MEPs also insisted on the importance of political dialogue in the framework of the future agreement. “Political dialogue is an essential component of the Cotonou Agreement and it must remain a pillar of the future agreement,” said Bogdan Brunon, rapporteur on the negotiation of a new EU-ACP partnership agreement.

Trade relations

The question of trade relations between the EU and ACP countries, and particularly Africa was the subject of many criticisms during the debate.

“We condition our aid to the opening of markets, by doing so we are destroying the local African economy,” stated the French MEP, Jean-Luc Schaffhauser (ENF).

“It was a complete failure in terms of trade policy,” added the Italian MEP, Piernicola Pedicini (EFDD).

In fact, according to the resolution, half of the ACP countries are still amongst the least developed countries in the world, and the 79 countries combined account for less than 5% of global trade and around 2% of global GDP.

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