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REPORT (COM(2023)0791 – C90029/2024 – 2023/0464M(NLE))

Containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Partnership Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and the members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part

A-9-2024-0159

Committee on Development · Rapporteur: Tomas Tobé

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Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's non-legislative resolution welcomes the Samoa Agreement between the EU and the members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, signed on 15 November 2023, and calls for its swift signature, ratification and full implementation. It backs the agreement's six priority areas and its Foundation principles, and asks for stronger cooperation on human rights, human and social development, economic growth, environment and climate, and migration. It calls for development effectiveness, diversified financing, action against illicit financial flows and corruption, and debt sustainability, and welcomes the budgetisation of the European Development Fund. It stresses parliamentary diplomacy, democratic accountability and a multi-stakeholder approach, and asks the Commission and the European External Action Service to strengthen strategic communication on the partnership.

Committee position. The Committee on Development welcomes the Samoa Agreement and calls for its swift signature, ratification and comprehensive implementation, supporting its objectives, principles and strategic priorities while asking for stronger action on human rights, development, climate and parliamentary accountability.

Key points

  1. Welcomes the signature of the Samoa Agreement and its objectives on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, and calls for swift signature and ratification by all parties.
  2. Calls for swift and comprehensive implementation, stronger multilateral cooperation, joint initiatives in multilateral organisations, and regular ministerial engagement with the OACPS.
  3. Supports the Foundation principles of shared responsibility, solidarity, mutual respect and accountability, and welcomes the agreement's basis in international agreements.
  4. Calls for effective use of provisions against violations of essential elements, a more principled approach to partner countries, and reaffirms poverty eradication in line with Article 208 TFEU.
  5. Calls for coherence between the regional protocols and other EU policy frameworks, and for strengthened EU-Caribbean and EU-Pacific partnerships and involvement of outermost regions and overseas countries and territories.
  6. Welcomes commitments on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, but regrets the absence of explicit mention of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and urges an end to criminalisation of LGBTI people.
  7. Insists on human and social development, including education and vocational training, humanitarian aid, health cooperation and vaccine manufacturing, food security with a focus on small-scale farmers, youth participation and child protection.
  8. Welcomes gender equality and women's empowerment as drivers of sustainable development, supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, and calls for faster implementation of the Gender Action Plan III in ACP countries.
  9. Calls on the Commission to strengthen economic relations, mobilise investment, support trade and private sector development, and link the agreement to the Global Gateway initiative with civil society and private sector participation.
  10. States that the agreement will not change trading arrangements, which continue through economic partnership agreements and the generalised system of preferences, and calls for an impact analysis of economic partnership agreements.
  11. Calls for a prohibition on imports of products linked to forced labour or the worst forms of child labour, and for monitoring the impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and due diligence rules on EU-OACPS trade.
  12. Welcomes cooperation on energy, environmental sustainability, climate change, oceans and migration, and calls for an integrated approach to peace and security, including the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.

Who is affected

  • The EU and the members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, which are to implement the agreement.
  • The Commission, which is asked to ensure coherence of trade instruments and to strengthen strategic communication.
  • The European External Action Service, which is asked to strengthen strategic communication on the partnership.
  • The European Investment Bank, whose capacity to deliver Global Gateway projects is mentioned.
  • Civil society, local authorities, women, young people and the private sector, whose participation is to be ensured.

Figures and deadlines

  • 15 November 2023: date the Samoa Agreement was signed in Samoa.
  • April 2021: initialling of the new partnership agreement.
  • more than two and a half years: time between initialling and signature.
  • more than half of the UN member states: countries brought together by the partnership.
  • 2021: year the budgetisation of the European Development Fund was implemented.
  • first quarter of 2024: when the Commission announced its intention to review the EU partnership with Africa.

Legal basis: Article 207(4), first subparagraph, and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a)(v), of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.