Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the conclusion of the Agreement amending for the second time the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, as first amended in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005

On 23 February 2009, the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (the ACP States) with a view to undertaking the second revision of the Partnership Agreement between the ACP States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part (the Cotonou Agreement).

In line with Article 95(3) of the Cotonou Agreement, both the ACP and the EU side notified the other party of the provisions that they wished to review with a view to a possible amendment of the Agreement.

Following the official launch of negotiations at the Joint Council on 29 May 2009, a series of negotiating sessions took place between June 2009 and March 2010. The negotiations were successfully concluded by an extraordinary Joint Ministerial meeting on 19 March 2010.

By Decision 2010/648/EU of 14 May 2010, the Council authorised the signing of the agreement. The Amending Agreement, which is the result of the negotiations, was consequently signed by both sides on 22 June 2010 at the ACP-EU Council of Ministers held in Ouagadougou, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

Council Decision 2010/614/EU of 14 June 2010 approved the position to be adopted by the European Union within the ACP-EU Council of Ministers concerning the transitional measures, and by Decision No 2/2010 of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers of 21 June 2010, the amending provisions are provisionally applied, as from 31 October 2010.

This decision also calls on Parties to complete all the necessary procedures to ensure the full entry into force of the Agreement within two years from the date of its signature. The Commission therefore proposes the Council to adopt a decision concluding the Agreement, after having obtained the consent of the European Parliament.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)469: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:469:FIN

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