The Cotonou Agreement (French: ''Accord de Cotonou'') is a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

between the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States ("ACP countries"). It was signed in June 2000 in

Cotonou Cotonou (; ) is the largest city in Benin. Its official population count was 679,012 inhabitants in 2012; however, over two million people live in the larger urban area. The urban area continues to expand, notably toward the west. The city lies ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

's largest city, by 78 ACP countries (

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

did not sign) and the then fifteen

EU member states The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often de ...

. It entered into force in 2003 and was subsequently revised in 2005 and 2010. Following the 2010 revision, the agreement was due to expire on 29 February 2020, but it was extended temporarily to no later than 31 October 2023, pending adoption of a new agreement (the Samoa Agreement).

Aims

The Cotonou Agreement is aimed at the reduction and eventual eradication of

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

while contributing to

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

and to the gradual integration of ACP countries into the

world economy The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans in the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities conducted both within and between nations, including production (economics), producti ...

. The revised Cotonou Agreement is also concerned with the fight against

impunity Impunity is the ability to act with exemption from punishments, losses, or other negative consequences. In the international law of human rights, impunity is failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations to justice and, as such, itsel ...

and promotion of

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

through the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

Main principles

The Cotonou Agreement replaced the

Lomé Convention The Lomé Convention is a trade and aid agreement between the European Economic Community, European Economic Community (EEC) and 71 ACP countries, African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, first signed in February 1975 in Lomé, Togo. His ...

, which had been the basis for ACP-EU development cooperation since 1975. The Cotonou Agreement, however, is much broader in scope than any previous arrangement has ever been. It is designed to last for a period of 20 years and is based on four main principles: *''Equality of partners and ownership of development strategies''. In principle, it is up to ACP states to determine how their societies and their economies should develop. *''Participation''. In addition to the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

as the main actor, partnership under the Cotonou Agreement is open to other actors (e.g.,

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

, and

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

s). *''Dialogue and mutual obligations''. The Cotonou Agreement is not merely a pot of money. The signatories have assumed mutual obligations (e.g., respect for

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

) which will be monitored through continuing dialogue and evaluation. *''Differentiation and regionalisation''. Cooperation agreements will vary according to each partner's level of development, needs, performance and long-term development strategy. Special treatment will be given to countries that are considered '' least developed'' or ''vulnerable'' (

landlocked A landlocked country is a country that has no territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie solely on endorheic basins. Currently, there are 44 landlocked countries, two of them doubly landlocked (Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan), and t ...

or island states).

Political dimension

The Cotonou Agreement wishes to give a stronger political foundation to ACP-EU development cooperation. Therefore, political dialogue is one of the key aspects of the arrangements and addresses new issues which have previously been outside the scope of development cooperation, such as peace and security, arms trade and migration. Furthermore, the element of "

good governance Good governance is the process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for t ...

" has been included as an "essential element" of the Cotonou Agreement, the violation of which may lead to the partial or complete suspension of development cooperation between the EU and the country in violation. It was furthermore agreed that serious cases of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

, including acts of bribery, could trigger a consultation process and possibly lead to a suspension of aid.

New actors

A second new feature of the Cotonou Agreement relates to the participation of

non-state actor A non-state actor (NSA) is an individual or organization that has significant political influence but is not allied to any particular country or state. The interests, structure, and influence of NSAs vary widely. For example, among NSAs are non-pr ...

s and

s in development cooperation. They are now considered complementary actors to

s who traditionally have been the key actors of cooperation between the EU and the ACP countries. Although ACP governments continue to be responsible for determining their own development strategy,

s and local authorities are now involved being consulted with regard to its formulation. They are furthermore provided with access to financial resources and involved in

implementation Implementation is the realization of an application, execution of a plan, idea, scientific modelling, model, design, specification, Standardization, standard, algorithm, policy, or the Management, administration or management of a process or Goal ...

. They also receive

capacity building Capacity building (or capacity development, capacity strengthening) is the improvement in an individual's or organization's facility (or capability) "to produce, perform or deploy". The terms capacity building and capacity development have often ...

support. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) operates within the framework of the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement with a mission to "strengthen policy and institutional capacity development and information and communication management capacities of ACP agricultural and rural development organisations". This it does, in part, through its magazine ''Spore'', which is widely circulated in ACP states. The Cotonou Agreement focuses especially on the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

as an instrument for sustainable economic development. A new comprehensive programme has been introduced in Cotonou in order to support the private sectors of the ACP countries with new tools such as access to funding via the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

(EIB).

Trade cooperation

Probably the most radical change introduced by the Cotonou Agreement concerns trade cooperation. Since the First

in 1975, the EU has granted ''non-reciprocal'' trade preferences to ACP countries. Under the Cotonou Agreement, however, this system was replaced by the

Economic Partnership Agreements Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are a scheme to create a free trade area (FTA) between the European Union and other countries. They are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating Preferential trading are ...

(EPAs), a new scheme that took effect in 2008. This new arrangement provides for ''reciprocal'' trade agreements, meaning that not only the EU provides duty-free access to its markets for ACP

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

, but ACP countries also provide duty-free access to their own markets for EU exports. True to the Cotonou principle of differentiation, however, not all ACP countries have to open their markets to EU products after 2008. The group of

least developed countries The least developed countries (LDCs) are developing countries listed by the United Nations that exhibit the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. The concept of LDCs originated in the late 1960s and the first group of LDCs was listed b ...

is able to either continue cooperation under the arrangements made in Lomé or the " Everything But Arms" regulation. Non-LDCs, on the other hand, who decide they are not in a position to enter into EPAs can for example be transferred into the EU's

Generalized System of Preferences The Generalized System of Preferences, or GSP, is a preferential tariff system which provides tariff reduction on various products. The concept of GSP is very different from the concept of " most favored nation" (MFN). MFN status provides equal tr ...

(GSP), or the Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+).

Programming

The Cotonou Agreement introduces the idea of performance-based partnerships and abandons "aid entitlements" like fixed allocations regardless of performance. Under the new agreement, the EU can be more selective and flexible in the way it allocated and uses its development resources. Aid allocations are based on an assessment of a country's needs and performance and include the possibility to regularly adjust financial resources accordingly. In practice, it means that more money can be channelled to "good performers" and that the share of "bad performers" can be reduced. Aid is allocated to ACP countries in five-year cycles under the Financial Protocol of the Cotonou Agreement. Under the ninth European Development Fund (EDF) (2002–2007) €13.5 billion was allocated to the ACP region. The 10th EDF (2008–2013) has a significantly increased budget of €22.7 billion, with €5.6 billion earmarked to support regional programmes, especially investments in regional African infrastructure projects through the EU-Africa Partnership on Infrastructure, which was launched in October 2007 in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, Ethiopia, by the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

Commission (AUC) and the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

. Through the flexibility provided by the Cotonou Agreement, the 10th EDF enables the EU to funnel more aid money (called "incentive amounts") to countries that improve their governance, especially financial, tax and legal systems. While some funds of the 10th EDF have been set aside for unforeseen needs (e.g., related to

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

and emergency assistance or to FLEX compensations), most are being programmed in the multi-annual framework for 2008–2013. In the first half of 2012, the programming exercise for the 11th EDF began which for geographic programmes will involve for the first time the

European External Action Service The European External Action Service (EEAS) is the diplomatic service in charge of executing all Foreign relations of the European Union, international relations of the European Union. The EEAS is led by the Vice-President of the European Co ...

as well as the

. As of early 2012 most of the details of the process of programming were contained in internal documents to the European institutions yet independent analysis and a description of the process were provided by the independent foundation the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM).

Fight against impunity

In recognising that

is one of the factors that contribute to cycles of violence and insecurity, the preamble and article 11.7 of the revised Cotonou Agreement include a clear commitment of ACP and EU states to combat impunity and promote justice through the

. Since the

is based on the principle of complementarity, the 2005 revised Cotonou Agreement innovates with obligations to ensure prosecution of the most serious crimes at the national level and through global cooperation. Additionally, article 11.6 of the Agreement includes a clearcut provision that obliges States parties to:

Revision

In accordance with the revision clause, the Cotonou Agreement was twice subject to a revision to enhance the effectiveness and quality of the ACP-EU partnership. The first revision was concluded in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 and the revised Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2008. The second revision of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement was signed during the 35th meeting of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers held in

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, on 22 June 2010 and entered provisionally into force on 1 November 2010.

Samoa Agreement

The Contonou Agreement is expected to be replaced by the Samoa Agreement. This new agreement consists of three separate protocols. These maintain European funding for the

Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS, French language, French: ''Organisation des États d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique'') is a group of countries of the world, countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the ...

secretariat, while giving the EU full authority over where its development funds are issued (the agreement provides the legal basis for

funding outside of the EU), and is intended to ease the repatriation of undocumented migrants. The text of this new arrangement was agreed in April 2021, however its ratification on the EU side was delayed by Hungary and Poland. At a meeting in Samoa in November 2023, 44 ACP states signed the agreement.

Criticism

It has been argued that although the main pillar of the Cotonou Agreement is poverty reduction, aid allocated to Africa under the 9th European Development Fund has had a limited impact on the majority of the poor.

References

External links

Cotonou Agreement at ACP-EU TradeEnglish information website to the Cotonou Agreement by the Friedrich Ebert StiftungAfrican Voices in Europe
A site about the reality of European Aid to Africa under the Cotonou Agreement
Official text of the Cotonou Agreement
* {{Authority control ACP–European Union relations Foreign trade of the European Union Treaties entered into by the European Union Cotonou 2000 in Benin Treaties concluded in 2000 Treaties entered into force in 2003 Treaties of Benin Treaties of Burkina Faso Treaties of Cape Verde Treaties of Ivory Coast Treaties of the Gambia Treaties of Ghana Treaties of Guinea Treaties of Guinea-Bissau Treaties of Liberia Treaties of Mauritania Treaties of Mali Treaties of Nigeria Treaties of Niger Treaties of Senegal Treaties of Togo Treaties of Sierra Leone Treaties of Cameroon Treaties of the Central African Republic Treaties of Chad Treaties of the Republic of the Congo Treaties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Treaties of Equatorial Guinea Treaties of Gabon Treaties of São Tomé and Príncipe Treaties of Burundi Treaties of Kenya Treaties of Rwanda Treaties of Tanzania Treaties of Uganda Treaties of the Comoros Treaties of Djibouti Treaties of Eritrea Treaties of Ethiopia Treaties of Madagascar Treaties of Mauritius Treaties of Malawi Treaties of Seychelles Treaties of the Transitional National Government of Somalia Treaties of the Republic of the Sudan (1985–2011) Treaties of Zambia Treaties of Zimbabwe Treaties of Angola Treaties of Lesotho Treaties of Botswana Treaties of Eswatini Treaties of Mozambique Treaties of Namibia Treaties of South Africa Treaties of Antigua and Barbuda Treaties of the Bahamas Treaties of Barbados Treaties of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Treaties of Saint Lucia Treaties of Saint Kitts and Nevis Treaties of Trinidad and Tobago Treaties of Jamaica Treaties of Haiti Treaties of the Dominican Republic Treaties of Dominica Treaties of Belize Treaties of Guyana Treaties of Suriname Treaties of Timor-Leste Treaties of the Cook Islands Treaties of Fiji Treaties of Kiribati Treaties of the Marshall Islands Treaties of the Solomon Islands Treaties of Samoa Treaties of Tonga Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia Treaties of Palau Treaties of Vanuatu Treaties of Tuvalu Treaties of Papua New Guinea Treaties of Nauru Treaties of Niue