Lome will once again confirm its place as the capital of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. On October 29th to 30th, 2019, representatives of Non-State Actors from the ACP countries will meet in the Togolese capital to discuss with the Chief Negotiator of the ACP group, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo, Professor Robert Dussey. The purpose of this consultation meeting will be to build the position of ACP Non-State Actors and to adopt a course of actions for African civil society in the ongoing negotiations on the future ACP – European Union Agreement.
Indeed, the Cotonou Agreement, which replaced the Lome Conventions, expires at the end of February 2020. With a view to its renewal, negotiations were opened on September 28, 2018 between European Union and the ACP countries. A consensus has already been reached between the two parties on the format of the new agreement which will include a common core and three regional protocols: EU – Africa, EU – Caribbean and EU – Pacific.
The Cotonou Agreement, as well as the current negotiating mandate, recognizes an important place and a partner role to the Non-State Actors within the framework of the development partnership between ACP and European Union. With this recognition, the civil society is committed to take an active part in the negotiation process in order to defend, alongside the States, the interest of the populations. The Lome consultation meeting is thus part of the mobilization of civil society around the negotiation process.
This Non-State Actors consultation in Lome is under the patronage of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Togo, Professor Robert Dussey, Chief Negotiator of the Central Negotiating Group of the ACP. After the two days meeting, the position expressed by Non-State Actors will be brought to the attention of the Minister in order to serve the final phase of the negotiations, which will begin in November 2019.
