mr president i appreciate very much the interest that you take in the second revision of the cotonou agreement
it is also with great interest that i read the report of the development committee which provides a shrewd analysis on the matters at stake
throughout the whole process it is a priority for us to keep parliament informed as we have done over the last months
the negotiations have gained momentum and are now entering into the final phase and the next joint ambassadorial meeting will prove the value of these discussions
we will be heading for an extraordinary joint ministerial meeting to conclude the negotiations in march as foreseen by the cotonou agreement
let me now share with you some observations on the report
above all the report has already proven helpful in upholding certain positions of the eu
just to name some of them your position on strengthening national acp parliaments on the international criminal court and on other human rights issues confirmed our negotiation position
likewise the importance that you attach to climate change and food security is shared by us and will be reflected in the final outcome
i would like to focus on four items starting with the importance of the parliamentary dimension as embodied in the joint parliamentary assembly to which the report attaches great importance
the commission is committed to strengthening the parliamentary dimension in the cotonou agreement
therefore our intention is not to weaken the jpa
on the contrary the commission proposal must be seen in the broader context of growing parliamentary oversight functions in particular with a view to existing and future economic partnership agreements epas and edf programmes
we should ensure maximum synergy between epa and cotonou institutions including between regional jpa meetings and the epa parliamentary bodies
in this emerging setting a reduction in plenary jpa meetings would make sense
the commission accepts however that this matter needs to be agreed with those who are most concerned and is therefore open to reconsidering its position
at the same time we would be interested to learn more from parliament how it sees the jpa's role and functioning in a changing political and institutional environment
the establishment of epas does not only call for the need to ensure synergy between them and the cotonou institutions but also requires an update of the cotonou trade provisions since the cotonou trade regime has become obsolete
we have agreed with acp partners that we will continue the negotiations towards regional european partnership agreements
in this context as development commissioner i would stress that it is neither politically desirable nor legally feasible to incorporate eu unilateral trade regimes such as gsp or gsp in cotonou as suggested in the draft report since these depend on autonomous eu schemes
by contrast the commission welcomes the call for cotonou to give more attention to the trade and development issues in general and to aid for trade in particular
in your report you express the concern that the conclusion of epas and increased regionalisation might undermine the coherence of the acp group
the commission believes that regional differentiation within the framework of cotonou is more an opportunity than a threat
regional integration is crucial for the development of acp countries and we need to integrate this reality into cotonou to better support their own efforts towards this objective
this by no means signifies disrupting the acp group and our acp partners largely share this approach
let me now briefly comment on sectoral policies which you are stressing in your report
we fully share the importance of climate change and renewable energies which are already included in the present revision exercise
likewise we will address food security in the regional dimension
you also stress the importance of good governance in tax matters and in the fiscal area
good governance is a fundamental principle of the cotonou agreement
building on article nine of the cotonou agreement the commission is currently preparing a new policy on good governance in tax matters in the context of development cooperation
we are also seeking to address these aspects in the ongoing revision exercise
therefore i can confirm that we share the same objective with you which is to create fair effective and growth-enhancing tax systems and effective tax administrations as well as to strengthen the participation of developing countries in international tax processes
finally i take note that you deplore that the commission has not consulted a wider variety of actors before launching the revision process paragraphs two and eight and i fully agree that for the future of the acp-eu relations post twenty twenty a comprehensive consultation process is needed possibly in the form of a green paper
we will have to assess the results of the present revision exercise as a basis for this as a form of lessons learnt
