(AGENPARL) – BRUXELLES mar 25 aprile 2023 The partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) states (the ‘Cotonou Agreement’) was due to expire in February 2020. The EU and the then ACP Group of States – which later became the Organisation of the ACP States (OACPS) – started negotiations on a ‘post-Cotonou’ agreement in September 2018. The EU and the OACPS agreed on the principle of a common foundation complemented by three regional protocols. However, the multi-level negotiations, the coronavirus crisis and difficulties in reaching agreement on sensitive issues, such as migration management and sexual and reproductive health and rights, prevented the new agreement from being finalised by the initial expiry date set in the Cotonou Agreement. It took more than 2 years of negotiations before the text of a renewed partnership agreement was initialled in April 2021, and 2 more years for the EU Member States to resolve dissenting views. Thus, to avoid a legal vacuum in relations, the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement were extended until end-June 2023. The European Parliament succeeded in maintaining the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly; three regional parliamentary assemblies will be created in the partnership’s future institutional set-up. The new agreement still needs to be signed by the parties, and further legal procedures will be required before it can be provisionally applied or enter fully into force. Seventh edition. To view earlier editions of this briefing, please see the EPRS blog.

Fonte : © Unione europea, 2023 – PE

Fonte/Source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/it/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)747105