A PROMISE OF SOLIDARITY IN ACP

Fiji next month, plays host to the largest gathering of heads of states and governments in the country, as leaders of 77 countries in the African Caribbean and Pacific region converge at Sheraton Fiji for the 3rd ACP Summit from July 16-19.

Hosting the Summit has been hailed as a great privilege for Fiji by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase as well as members of his Cabinet. Fiji’s diplomatic Corp has also reiterated this stance.

Fiji’s Ambassador to Brussels, Isikeli Mataitoga has highlighted the importance of hosting the Summit in Fiji saying "not only will the ACP Summit benefit Fiji under the combined trade agreements, it will also be an opportune time to promote Fiji to the rest of the ACP region and to show the political and economic stability that has been brought to the country".

Given its history and its efforts to achieve solidarity in a globalized world, the ACP Summit is a significant forum for member countries of the ACP group.

Enhancing economic development and pushing back the frontiers of poverty, is the dream of many developing countries in this world, but it has been discovered time and again that they cannot achieve this on their own.

Help from developed nations is always vital, yet when it comes to gaining attention of these nations a combined approach on the part of the developing countries is always encouraged. So is the use of international forums to voice their concerns and requests.

Keeping this in mind, 46 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries met in Georgetown, Guyana in South America in 1975 and affirmed their common identity based on solidarity.

In the first ACP Summit in 1997 Libreville, Gabon, Former Secretary General of the ACP, Ng’andu Peter Magande said that under the Georgetown Agreement, the ACP States committed themselves to promoting improved cooperation between the peoples of the ACP on the basis of their interdependence, complementarity and mutual interests.

"They resolved to establish the ACP group of states to contribute towards a new, fairer and more equitable world order."

As a means of attaining these objectives, the group entered into an agreement termed the Lome Convention with the nine countries of the European Economic Community (EEC), now known as the EU.

According to Mr. Magande, this partnership includes some of the smallest states with populations of less than 50,000 inhabitants, the most vulnerable island, often victims of natural disasters, some of the poorest countries. "On the other hand, the partner EU is the largest donor of development aid in the world.

"Some of the union members are among the most developed, industrialized and wealthy in the world, and this is not only a remarkable but also a most valuable partnership."

>From 46, the membership of ACP grew with each successive Lome convention signing at a five-yearly interval. Lome II Convention was signed in 1980 between 58 ACP countries and the nine European countries and Lome III was signed in 1985 between 65 ACP countries and 10 European countries.

The first two Lome Conventions were signed by ACP countries with differing political situations with some finding themselves in the areas of communism and capitalist influence, but an important feature of the Lome conventions was that dialogue between these countries could continue.

However, when the Lome III convention was signed, Article 4 of the convention alluded to the importance of human dignity and stressed economic, cultural and social rights.

It was not until the signing of Lome IV in 1990 that human rights and civil and political rights made its way into the ACP-EU relationship. For the first time, the Lome policy had become genuinely political with respect for human rights forming one of the fundamental clauses.

The next major change to the policy was the term of the Convention. From the previous duration of 5 years, it was changed to 10 years, to be reviewed upon the expiry of the five-year financial protocol.

Stress was also placed on diversification of the ACP economies, promotion of the private sector and the increasing importance of regional cooperation as a precursor to regional integration.

>From the signing of the first Lome Convention till Lome IV, radical changes and events of monumental impact to the EU and the global political and commercial landscape occurred.

Mr. Magande highlighted the following significant ones which were:

• The signing in 1992 of the Maastricht treaty of European Union which resulted in common security, economic and monetary policies with a single market, and a clear basis for future EU cooperation, anchored on poverty eradication;
• The holding of important UN world conferences on education, children, environment and development, human rights, population; and
• The conclusion of the Uruguay round of trade negotiations which led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a rules based trading system open to all.

"All these and many other events and changes were to affect the negotiations for the review of the fourth Lome Convention in 1995," Mr. Magande said. Lome IV Convention was reviewed in Mauritius in 1995 between 15 European States and 70 ACP countries.

"Attitudes to the cooperation agreement by some EU members have changed. Much less financial aid was to be provided and with more conditionalities," said Mr. Magande.

Respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law became an essential element, violation of which could be penalized by partial or total suspension of cooperation.

Mr. Magande said the review required the heads of states and government of the EU, for the first time in the history of the convention to resolve a deadlock over the financial package under the revised convention.

Another addition to the Convention was taking into consideration objectives of the EU after the signing of the Maastricht treaty in 1992.

With the Lome IV convention coming to an end in 2000, the European Commission had already embarked upon a process of reflection on the ACP-EU partnership in late 1995.

The resulting aspects were:

• the modified geographical situation in the wake of the end of the Cold War;
• shortcomings in connection with trade preferences that had to be seen in the light of the new WTO rules and the disintegration of the social fabric; and
• the increasing number of conflicts and humanitarian catastrophes, leading to greater considerations of institutional and political context of partner countries in order to promote viability and effectiveness of aid.

In regard to the above considerations, the ACP-EU partnership had to be reviewed. The review process began in mid-1999, prior to the 2nd ACP Heads of State and Government Summit in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in November 1999.

The review resulted in the Cotonou Agreement signed in Cotonou, Benin in 2000, between 77 ACP countries and 15 European states. Had it not been for the May 2000 political upheaval in Fiji, the Agreement would have been called Suva I.

This Agreement covers the next 20 years of the relationship between the EU and the ACP countries.

This new Agreement was hailed by the new ACP Secretary General Jean-Robert Goulongana, who also reminded all parties concerned about the challenges involved in implementing the various dimensions of the Agreement.

The Cotonou Agreement has four main sectors which are the political dimension, the new actors involved in the partnership, the new trade arrangement and financial cooperation.

Explaining the dimensions of the new Agreement, Mr. Goulongana said the expansion of cooperation to the political sphere is one of the principal innovations of the Cotonou Agreement.

He said the inclusion of civil society and economic and social actors in the ACP-EU partnership is a further new feature.

"The objective is to involve these parties in the definition of strategies and priorities which previously were the exclusive jurisdiction of governments.

"The aim is therefore to establish mechanisms which reconcile State responsibilities and recognition of the increasing role played by non-State actors in development process."

On Financial Cooperation, Mr. Goulongana said with the view to improving efficiency, the Cotonou Agreement makes provision for only two financial instruments under the European Development Fund (EDF).

These are an instrument for granting subsidies for long-term development support and an investment facility to promote the private sector in the ACP countries aimed at replacing the current financing mechanism of risk capital and interest subsidies.

"The allocation of resources to ACP countries will henceforth be based not only on their needs, but also on their performance levels.

"The Amount of resources allocated to a country will not necessary go to it – the amount may rise or, alternatively, fall, depending on the results of periodic joint evaluations."

On the new trade arrangement, Mr. Gaulongana said the Cotonou Agreement provides for the setting-up, in the long term, of a new trade arrangement characterized by the progressive abolition of obstacles to trade between the parties in accordance with WTO rules.

"To achieve this objective, economic partnership agreements will be negotiated from September 2002 and will enter into force as of 1 January 2008."

With September 2002 only months away, the 3rd ACP Summit holds even more significance not just for Fiji but for the entire group of ACP countries.

At their first Summit in Libreville the leaders committed themselves to consolidating the political identity of the ACP groups so as to enable it to act and speak with a single voice.

In the Santo Domingo Declaration adopted after their second summit, they equally committed themselves to constructing an adequate forum for consultation on issues relating to global policy and the global economy.

Since that summit, the international situation has kept evolving and was particularly marked by the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the geopolitical and economic repercussions.

With the impending trade negotiations and the changes in global economy, it can be expected that leaders of the ACP will examine measures that will enable their countries to adapt to the new economic situation to the best extent possible. -End-