AFRICAN, CARIBBEAN & PACIFIC – EUROPEAN UNION (ACP/EU)

The EU-ACP relationship was forged when the United Kingdom joined the then European Economic Community (ECC) in 1973 and sought associate status for its for its former colonies. The former UK colonies formed an alliance with the former colonies of France to strengthen their capacity to negotiate with the European Commission as members of the EEC.

Jamaica was one of the original forty-six (46) developing countries which formed the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States in 1975. The ACP was formed on the basis of the Georgetown Agreement, which was signed on 6th June 1975, in Guyana and constituted the coming together of countries divided by vast oceans but connected by common historical ties to the Member States of what was then the European Economic Community (EEC).

The ACP currently has 79 Member States and the organisation’s Secretariat is based in Brussels, Belgium. The current Secretary General is H.E. Sir John Kapustin. The Secretariat is supported by member contributions and funding from the EU.

Among other aims, the ACP seeks to promote peace, stability and deeper understanding among the peoples of the three regions; intra-ACP integration and enhanced relations with the European Union (EU) in order to accelerate the development of ACP states.

Within the context of the ACP, Jamaica has supported the ideals of the organisation and has contributed to the work of the Ministerial Council, the Committee of Ambassadors and other key institutions. Since 1975 there have been four (4) Lomé Conventions dealing with cooperation between the ACP countries and the Member States of the European Union. The Conventions covered the areas of Financial and Technical Cooperation, Trade Cooperation and Development, Agriculture, Mining and Energy, Development of Services, Regional Cooperation, Culture and Social Cooperation and the Environment. The provisions of these Conventions have allowed Jamaica to benefit from non-reciprocal preferential market access to European markets including under product-specific protocols for bananas, rum, and sugar.

The banana disputes in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of the early 1990s initiated by groups of Latin American banana producers resulted in the European Commission needing to request a waiver from the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) principle contained in GATT Article I.

The Lomé Agreement evolved into the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, which was signed on 23rd June 2000 and will provide the framework for ACP-EU relations over a twenty (20) year period up to 2020. The Agreement was signed by 78 ACP Countries and 15 EU Member States and applies to those states that have since joined both groupings. The Cotonou Partnership Agreement signalled a new era in EU-ACP relations, particularly as it pertains to Development Strategies, Economic and Financial Cooperation, Technical Cooperation and Trade. The ACP States continue to benefit from trading arrangements that allow for products to be exported to the European market duty free. However, in trade, the Agreement provided for a transition period of eight (8) years during which WTO compatible Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) would be negotiated.

With the enlargement of the European Union from fifteen (15) to twenty-five (25) Member States in May 2004, ACP countries should benefit from preferential access to the markets of the ten (10) new Members.

The EU would negotiate the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with regional groupings within the ACP. For the purposes of these negotiations, the ACP is subdivided into six regions. Jamaica negotiates as a part of CARIFORUM, which combines the Member States of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic. The negotiations for the CARIFORUM – EC EPA were launched in Jamaica on 16th April 2004. They are scheduled to conclude in 2007.

Jamaica has played an active role in the ACP. Jamaica has chaired the ACP Group on two occasions, the latest period being from 1st August 2004 to 31st January 2005.During this period, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Hon. K.D. Knight, in his capacity as President of the ACP Council of Ministers, chaired the 80th Session, which took place from 29th November to 2nd December 2004. The Minister also co-chaired the ACP-EU Council of Ministers which was held on 3rd December 2004, to review the Cotonou Agreement.

With regard to the EU’s new sugar regime, Jamaica, within the context of the ACP, continues to lobby for more favourable terms which would minimize the negative effects of the regime.