Suchergebnisse

The role of the Cotonou Agreement during the negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States has been well studied. This paper analyses the inverse of this relationship, namely the legal and political implications of different possible outcomes of the upcoming post-Cotonou negotiations on the EPAs, following the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020. The EPAs include several cross-references to provisions in the Cotonou Agreement on development and human rights. This paper analyses the legal and political implications for the EPAs of possible negotiation outcomes, including combinations of regional or non-legally binding cooperation agreements. Its main conclusion is that a decision not to renew the Cotonou Agreement would have significant political implications but, contrary to the views of some EU stakeholders, limited legal implications for the EPAs.

The EU is currently negotiating a successor to its Cotonou Agreement of year 2000 with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. The political and economic con­text has changed enormously over the past two decades, with trade relations between the EU and the more developed ACP countries now largely regulated by bilateral and regional Economic Partnership Agreements. Since 2015, in line with international sustainability targets, social and environmental aspects must be taken into account in international treaties, while in 2018 the African Union (AU) agreed to establish an African Continental Free Trade Area. A successor to Cotonou offers an opportunity to modernise the rules on issues including investment, services and migration. This could also generate greater interest in the talks in Germany and the EU. But the cooperation need to be placed on a new foundation and the African states will have to decide whether they want to negotiate together, as a continent.

The EU is currently negotiating a successor to its Cotonou Agreement of year 2000 with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. The political and economic con­text has changed enormously over the past two decades, with trade relations between the EU and the more developed ACP countries now largely regulated by bilateral and regional Economic Partnership Agreements. Since 2015, in line with international sustainability targets, social and environmental aspects must be taken into account in international treaties, while in 2018 the African Union (AU) agreed to establish an African Continental Free Trade Area. A successor to Cotonou offers an opportunity to modernise the rules on issues including investment, services and migration. This could also generate greater interest in the talks in Germany and the EU. But the cooperation need to be placed on a new foundation and the African states will have to decide whether they want to negotiate together, as a continent. (Autorenreferat)