The ACP-EU is a long-standing cooperation partnership between the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union (EU).
In 2020, the ACP Group transformed itself from a partnership to an international organisation, OACPS through the revision of the Georgetown Agreement in December 2019.
This was followed by the Samoa Agreement which provided the legal overarching framework for political development and sectoral cooperation between the OACPS countries for 20 years. The Samoa Agreement was signed on the 15 of November 2023 renewing the cooperation agenda between the parties. It is currently under provisional application pending ratification by all parties. The Samoa Agreement will enter into force fully once all 27 EU Member States and at least two thirds (53) of the OACPS Member States ratify it.
Importantly, the Samoa Agreement formally introduced separate representation and engagement with the EU through the regional pillars: Africa-EU, Caribbean-EU, Pacific EU; effectively breaking the ACP negotiating bloc and creating more distinct and tailored cooperation partnerships.
This introduced a new structure of cooperation whereby each region convenes as separate Regional groups in Regional Parliamentary Assemblies for the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Region respectively, followed by annual plenaries of the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
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