Maturing beyond Cotonou: An EU-ACP Association Treaty for Development A proposal for reinventing EU relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. ZEI Discussion Paper C235 2016

Kühnhardt, Ludger (2016) Maturing beyond Cotonou: An EU-ACP Association Treaty for Development A proposal for reinventing EU relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. ZEI Discussion Paper C235 2016. [Discussion Paper]

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Abstract

The relationship between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, Pacific Group of States (ACP) is one of the most unknown, underperforming and underrated legal arrangements in the world. However, all things considered, the EU-ACP relationship has the potential to be of great value. It can be of growing importance if it is properly placed in the context of foreseeable global trends. For this, the European Union and its ACP partners need to be bold and forward looking, strategic and geopolitical. The EU-ACP relationship can become much more relevant for coping with a rising number of global issues. So much so, that it would need to be invented if it did not already exist today. Taken together, the 28 EU member states 1 and 79 ACP countries 2 constitute more than fifty percent of the 193 UN member states. They represent a wide range of states – from some of the strongest economies to some of the weakest; from some of the biggest states demographically to some of the smallest states on earth; from highly complex and resilient democracies and technologically advanced societies to some of the most vulnerable societies and residual states.

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