Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, represented the CARIFORUM Region, in advancing the group’s position in negotiations on the Post-Cotonou Agreement at the recently-concluded ACP Meetings in Brussels, Belgium. The Post-Cotonou Agreement is scheduled to be finalized in March 2020.
Johnson Smith assumed responsibility to represent the CARIFORUM Regional Group in the African and Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States on 1st February 2020 for a six-month tenure.
ACP Meetings in Brussels
From February 13-14, Minister Johnson Smith participated in the 8th Meeting of the ACP Ministerial Central Negotiating Group (CNG) followed by the 6th Meeting of the ACP-EU Chief Negotiators respectively.
Johnson Smith advised that, “This round of negotiations was especially critical, as we are now approaching the scheduled deadline at the end March. I represented the region’s interests in the wider ACP Group. We collectively, advanced the negotiations with the European Union (EU) in order to finalize post-Cotonou arrangements, which are fundamental to our future relations with the European Union. Without this, there will be no proper framework for development cooperation with the EU.”
Minister Johnson Smith also shared that, “Prior to the ACP-EU Chief Negotiators Meeting, I attended the 8th Meeting of the ACP Central Negotiating Group which was convened to discuss strategies and positions to be brought to our EU counterparts and provided political guidance and direction to the ACP Chief Negotiator. We also received updates from ACP regions on the negotiations on their respective Regional Protocols, including CARIFORUM.”
She added that, “During the preparatory meeting of the ACP group, we assessed the negotiating text of the Foundation Agreement and received an update on the state-of-play of the negotiations. The Ministers also took political decisions, and provided guidance on any outstanding matters that arose since our last Meeting.
The Post-Cotonou Agreement will be the successor agreement to the Cotonou Partnership which expires this year. The Cotonou Partnership Agreement is the current framework for ACP-EU relations and the provision of development funding .
