Publications /
Policy Paper

Back
“Delenda est Cotonou ?” The European Union and the ACP States: A Partnership without Partners
Authors
Dominique Lecompte
Thierry Vircoulon
March 14, 2022

Although it has largely gone unnoticed in France, the agreement signed on December 3, 2020 between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) is a major shift in the long-standing relations between the EU and countries in the Global South. The EU established a development assistance policy as early as the Treaty of Rome in 1957, signed the first cooperation agreement in 1963, and nowadays is often the largest donor to these countries, particularly in Africa. The EU plans to allocate approximately €80 billion to its Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument from 2021 to 2027.

But the EU's development assistance policy has evolved significantly from the Yaoundé Convention in 1963 to the December3, 2020 agreement. When this policy was based on economic developmentalism, it advocated comanagement of development assistance and prioritized infrastructure and integration into international trade, but it has gradually changed paradigm and assumed new approaches. The Cotonou Agreement, signed in 2000, symbolized this change: democratic governance became the new benchmark, and development assistance was coupled with political priorities, major infrastructure projects were replaced by budget support and engineers were replaced by managers. This change has had harmful consequences. On the one hand, the expansion of political objectives coupled to development assistance, the subordination of assistance to European diplomacy, the proliferation of strategic documents and the increase in financial instruments have made the European development assistance policy unclear and incomprehensible. On the other hand, the politicization and bureaucratization of development assistance policy has undermined the principle of comanagement that characterized the European Development Fund.

The management of European aid is becoming less and less partnership-based and increasingly complex, with many governments in the Global South turning away from it and relying on alternative donors. While the prioritization of security and migration policy in European development assistance annoys some partners in the Global South, in Brussels they are criticized for the lack of results from the billions of dollars in assistance provided to them.

As a result, signs of disinterest, or even disagreement, are increasing, sometimes resulting in diplomatic tensions between the EU and the ACP countries.

The agreement of December 3, 2020, which formally ends comanagement of development assistance and no longer makes development the top priority, illustrates this gradual disenchantment between the European donor and the beneficiary countries, and in the coming years it can lead to a partnership without partners.

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    Pascal Chaigneau
    Alain Oudot de Dainville
    Rodolphe Monnet
    Florent Parmentier
    Olivier Tramond
    June 16, 2022
    Les Dialogues stratégiques, une collaboration entre le HEC Center for Geopolitics et le Policy Center for the New South représentent une plateforme d’analyse et d’échange biannuelle réunissant des experts, des praticiens, des décideurs politiques ainsi que le monde universitaire et les médias au service d’une réflexion critique et approfondie sur les tendances politiques mondiales et les grandes questions d’importance commune pour l’Europe et l’Afrique. Cette publication est ...
  • Authors
    May 13, 2022
    The goal of throttling oligarchs Once again, the private jet of the world’s most famous oligarch, Roman Abramovich, was spotted in the Emirates, which more than ever seems attractive to wealthy Russians, who are less welcome, or not at all, in London anymore, the capital, which once was known as Londongrad, when its mayor was Boris Johnson, now the Prime minister. He is attempting to revive his fading political fortunes by acting like a pocket-size war leader a la Winston Churchill ...
  • Authors
    April 26, 2022
    Which nation is next on Putin’s list, the Baltic states, Poland? “An oligarch is one of the select few people, who rule or influence leaders in an oligarchy- a government in which power is held by a select few individuals or a small class of powerful people” (www.dictionary.com) Now we know. The oligarchs of Moscow and St Petersburg, Vladivostok or Sevastopol, are forced to dig into their reserves, hidden cash, tons of Euro, dollar, pound wherever possible to camouflage their mone ...
  • Authors
    Patricia Ahanda
    April 22, 2022
    Le second tour des élections présidentielles françaises qui se tiendra ce 24 avril 2022 opposera de nouveau Emmanuel Macron, le président sortant, et Marine Le Pen, présidente du Rassemblement national. Pourtant, cette nouvelle élection n’est en rien similaire à celle de 2017. Cette élection est un nouvel affrontement politique entre deux leaders aux projets totalement opposés. C’est un duel politique français marqué par des bouleversements sociaux, économiques, générationnels, poli ...
  • Authors
    April 15, 2022
    The shadows of Africa's colonial history loom over the French presidential elections. Emmanuel Macron came to office claiming to be “neither of left nor right,” and hoping to fundamentally transform France’s approach to Africa, and to heal the wounds of colonialism. Given the Russian-Ukraine War, the failure of Operation Barkhane, the rise of the French right, and the general African fatigue with Françafrique, it is not clear if an overhaul of France's African policy is possible. ...
  • April 5, 2022
    يخصص مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد حلقة برنامجه الأسبوعي "حديث الثلاثاء" لمستقبل العلاقات المغربية الاسبانية مع العربي الجعايدي، باحث بارز بمركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد عرفت العلاقة الثنائية المغربية الإسبانية تطوّرًا ملحوظًا مع إعلان الحكومة الإسبانية مساندتها لمبادرة الحكم ...
  • Authors
    March 22, 2022
    African states are in a vulnerable position. The invasion of Ukraine could affect food security and trigger a spike in oil prices, inflicting economic duress on African households. The Black Sea region is home to vast fertile farmlands, and war in the “breadbasket of the world” could threaten wheat and fertilizer supplies. Increased economic hardship and social discontent do not bode well for democratic governance in Africa, especially in light of the recent spate of military coups. ...
  • Authors
    March 16, 2022
    The 2021 German federal election brought about a historic reshuffle of the political parties’ hierarchy in Europe’s biggest economy. The Social Democratic Party are back in control of the Chancellery for the first time since 2005, as part of a three-party coalition at the federal level with the Greens and the Liberals, a first in Germany’s post-war history. Now, the federal government has turned its gaze towards its founding mission: more progress. The first 100 days of the three-pa ...
  • From

    15
    5:30 pm March 2022
    تشكّل الأزمة الروسية الاوكرانية تحديا جيوسياياً غير مسبوق في القارّة الأوروبيّة منذ الحرب العالمية الثانية. فقد تسبّبت في أكبر نزوح في أوروبا منذ 1945، حيث بلغ عدد النازحين الأوكرانيين الذين هربوا من بلادهم مليوني ونصف نسمة. موازاتاً مع ذلك، عادت الى الواجهة مواضيع كثيرة، نذكر منها امكانية الاصطدام المسلّح بين روسيا وحلف شمال الاطلسي، والحرب النووية. الّا أن انعكاسات الحرب لا تقتصر على اوروبا والغرب، بل تأثّر سلباً على الاقتصاد الدولي ودول الجنوب، وتهدّد الامن الغذائي في دول كثيرة، خاصة في المنطقة العربية وفي افريقيا ولفهم هذه الازمة بمختلف أبعادها ووضعها في سياقاتها النظرية والتاريخية والأمنية ومناقشة تأثيراتها الحاليّة أو المتوقَّعة في المدى القريب، ينظّم مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد حلقة خاصّة من برنامج حديث الثلاثاء ستركّز على الأحداث الجارية في اوكرانيا وستطرح فرضي ...