About: ACP countries

Successor to EU-Africa Cotonou treaty marks ‘turning point’, says EU
The EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Community on Thursday (15 April) finalised the successor to the Cotonou agreement, bringing a close to two and a half years of negotiations and repeated delays.
Post-Cotonou deal edges closer to the finish line
The long-delayed successor to the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) community appears to be approaching the finish line with a ‘99%’ chance of success this year, according to both sides.
Who will speak for Africa with Brussels?
The African Union has ambitious plans to reconfigure its continent’s relations with the European Union. In 2018, led by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and the Chadian chair of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Addis Ababa-based AU moved...
Tensions grow over the future of the ACP group
The African Union wants to have a continent-to-continent dialogue with Europe, a change that could make the framework of the Cotonou Agreement implode and leave the Pacific and Caribbean states out in the cold.
EU-ACP relations after Cotonou Agreement: Re-set, re-launch or retreat?
Struck in 2000 in Benin, the Cotonou Agreement has shaped relations between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) for nearly 20 years. The accord expires in 2020 and negotiations between the European Union and the ACP on its successor will begin in the coming weeks.
The Cotonou agreement, has it fulfilled its promises?
The Cotonou agreement has regulated cooperation between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries since 2000. With negotiations on its successor about to start, the results so far seem mixed. EURACTIV France reports.
Counterfeit trade on the agenda of ACP negotiations
MEPs and MPs from ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) countries call for closer cooperation to tackle counterfeit products in their future cooperation agreement. EURACTIV.fr reports.
MEPs condemn Hungary’s post-Cotonou agreement blockade
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 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
The clock is ticking on malaria
With drug and insecticide resistance on the rise and slow progress in reducing cases and deaths, the clock is ticking on malaria. The EU must join other health leaders and scale up its efforts to fight the disease, writes Charles Goerens.
Breaking the silence on North Africa: A new EU-Africa partnership after 2020
The EU will soon open negotiations with the 78 countries of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific group on the future of their partnership with the EU in September 2018. This could breathe new life in the relations between the two continents. However, getting there will not be easy, writes Alfonso Medinilla.
Development ministers upgrade the ‘aid for trade’ strategy
Development ministers on Monday (11 December) discussed and adopted conclusions on the updated strategy on aid for trade, which aims to improve the integration of developing countries into the international trading system and to enable commerce and investment to contribute to reducing poverty.
Report: EU capacity to promote ‘values’ in the developing world declining
To say the EU’s ability to promote values through external action is declining may be an understatement. This time the observation is made in a report aimed at improving and making more coherent Union diplomacy and the way the bloc's taxpayer money is spent.
Mimica: Private sector has a key role in reaching the SDGs
The massive need for investment in projects of public interest in developing countries cannot be met by the public sector alone, this is why the involvement of the private sector in reaching the SDGs is key, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development told EURACTIV.com in an exclusive interview.
Vulnerable countries sound alarm on climate finance
The countries most exposed to the effects of climate change are still waiting for the finances they were promised in Paris in 2015. EURACTIV France reports.
ACP states push back at New Consensus on Development over ‘democracy’ deficit
Voices from the African, Caribbean and Pacific nation states pushed back on Monday (15 May) at the focus on ‘democracy’ in the European New Consensus on Development, in a debate which opens old wounds between donor countries, and developing nations.
MEPs in Ghana and Ivory Coast to monitor EPA implementation
MEPs from the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee are in West Africa this week, to monitor the implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements.
Malmström put on spot by Nigeria on EU deals with ACP countries
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström came under fire from Nigeria on Tuesday (24 January) over the state of the bloc’s Economic Partnership Agreements with the developing world.
UK watchdog calls for clearer picture of how aid investments benefit the poor
The private sector arm of the UK’s aid programme is failing to demonstrate adequately how its investments improve the lives of the world’s poorest, according to the state spending watchdog, even as the government plans to ramp up the funds it channels through the body.
No EU observers at Gambia’s election
The former British colony of Gambia goes to the polls on Thursday (1 December) for an election which could see the defeat of incumbent Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the tiny West African country for 22 years.
Qualified welcome for EU’s new once-in-a-decade development rethink
Major NGOs gave a guarded welcome today (22 November) to a major once-in-a-decade, overhaul of the EU’s thinking on development.
AidEx opens in Brussels, with ‘localisation’ top of the agenda
AidEx, the second-biggest event in the development calendar in Brussels, opens today (16 November), for 48 hours, in which the international aid community, NGOs, professionals come together to share experiences and expertise.
Cracks appear in EU-ACP unity at Cotonou meeting in Dakar
Dissent was heard at the high-level meeting in Dakar last week of the EU and the 79-member states of the African, Caribbean and Pacific group.