It aims to establish a stronger political partnership between OACPS Member States and the EU.
It is now official. The new Partnership Agreement between the Member States of the Orga- nisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union (EU) will be referred to as the “Samoa Agreement”. This name was approved during the 46th Session of the Council of ACP-EU mi- nisters, held in the presence of the Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiame Nao- mi Mata’afa. After the validation of the name of the future OACPS-EU Agreement by the ministers, meeting in extraordi- nary session on 14 November 2023, it was the turn of the ACP and Euro- pean ministers to endorse this name before the signing of the new Agree- ment.
They did so unanimously on 15 November 2023 at the Multipurpose Gym Tuanaimato in Samoa, in the Pa- cific. This was the very last meeting under the Cotonou Agreement and will serve as the basis for launching the cooperation train for the next 20 years. Like the extraordinary session of OACPS ministers, this last session of the ACP-EU Council of Minis- ters was part of the preparations for the signing ceremony of the future Partnership Agreement between the members of the OACPS on the one hand, and the EU and its Member States on the other.
It gave partici- pants the opportunity to examine the report of the 45th session of the ACP Council of Ministers and the report on relations with the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. After productive discussions on the positions to be adopted for the im- plementation of the Samoa Agree-
ment, in particular the regional protocols and the establishment of governance bodies, the minis- ters agreed on a common and consensual position to define a joint cooperation mechanism in international fora. A demonstra- tion of this position is the decision to issue a joint OACPS-EU decla- ration at the United Nations Cli- mate Change Conference (COP 28), held from 30 November to 12 December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Cameroon’s Minister of the Eco- nomy, Planning and Regional De- velopment, Alamine Ousmane Mey, coordinator of the Came- roon-EU partnership and holder of the full powers of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, took an
active part in this meeting. This new Agreement aims to establish a stronger political partnership between the OACPS Member States and the EU. It aims to strengthen the capacity of the parties to address global challen- ges together, including through cooperation in international fora, to achieve mutually beneficial re- sults in areas of common and in- terdependent interest, and on the basis of shared values, within a modernised framework.
“It aims to strengthen the parties’ ability to address global challen- ges together, including through cooperation within international fora.”
By Rosine NKONLA AZANMENE
Source: Cameroun Emergent
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