Council Decision (EU) 2019/1932 on the position to be taken within the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors as regards the adoption of a decision to adopt transitional measures pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement

Summary:

Decision (EU) 2019/1932 - adopted by the Council of the European Union on 18 November 2019 - establishing the position to be taken on behalf of the EuropeanUnion regarding the adoption of transitional measures pursuant to Article 95(4) of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement.

Further information:

The Partnership Agreement between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States (the Cotonou Partnership Agreement) was signed in Cotonou, Benin on 23 June 2000. Since then, the Agreement has been the framework for the EU's relations with 79 ACP countries. The Agreement was concluded for a period of 20 years, from 1 March 2000 until 29 February 2020.

Negotiations towards a new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement were launched in September 2018 and are currently ongoing. However, it has become clear that those negotiations will not result in a new Agreement ready to be applied by the above expiry date. The situation would result in a vacuum in the EU-ACP relations that must be filled.

The Commission therefore tabled a proposal on 25 October 2019 for a Decision allowing for the extension of the application of the entirety of the provisions of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement until 31 December 2020, or until entry into force of the new Partnership Agreement between the Union and the ACP States, whichever is sooner. The Council of the European Union adopted the Decision on 18 November, which was published in the Official Journal on 21 November 2019.

Official

EUR-Lex: COM(2019)550: Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted within the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2019:550:FIN

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