Berlin, 13/05/2023: In a new Africa.Table analysis, Kay Pfaffenberger gives his assessment of the planned agreement between the EU and the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). This is designed to replace the expired Cotonou Agreement. While the protracted Hungarian blockade was cleared last month, Poland is now blocking the project. The author sees this bumpy process as emblematic of the realignment of relations between the EU and OACPS.
A new multi-stakeholder approach, being developed jointly with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is intended to go beyond the previous involvement of non-state actors and thus make the agreement more inclusive. For Kay Pfaffenberger, this does not stretch far enough beyond previous approaches. In his opinion, the agreement’s general approach will not do justice to the diversity of the countries involved and their challenges. In the competition for African partner states, it will at best provide guard rails.
See the full analysis (paywall): https://table.media/africa/analyse/cotonou-2-0-fuer-eu-afrika-beziehungen-nachrangig/
