Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)272 - EU position on the status of Somalia in relation to the Partnership Agreement with the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

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dossier COM(2013)272 - EU position on the status of Somalia in relation to the Partnership Agreement with the members of the African, Caribbean and ...
source COM(2013)272 EN
date 08-05-2013
On 23 June 2000, the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (hereinafter referred to as ACP States), on the one hand, and the European Community and its Member States, on the other, signed a Partnership Agreement in Cotonou (Benin) (hereinafter referred to as the Cotonou Agreement).

On 25 June 2005 in Luxembourg, the ACP States and the European Community and its Member States signed an Agreement amending the Cotonou Agreement. In accordance with Article 93 i thereof, the amended Cotonou Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2008 following ratification of the revision by the European Community and its Member States and by two thirds of the ACP States.

On 22 June 2010 in Ouagadougou, the ACP States and the European Union signed an Agreement amending for the second time the Cotonou Agreement, which has been provisionally applied since 31 October 2010.

In a letter dated 25 February 2013 sent to the EU High Representative/Vice President Catherine Ashton, and to the President of the ACP-EU Council through the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, the Federal Republic of Somalias Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, H.E. Fawzia Yusuf Adam, formally requested observership and subsequent accession to the Cotonou Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article 94 of the Agreement. The European Union should respond favourably to this request, which should be approved by a formal decision by the Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers, during their meeting in Brussels, on 6 and 7 June 2013.

In accordance with Article 218(10) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Parliament will be informed.

The Commission therefore proposes that the Council adopt the attached proposal for an EU position concerning the status of the Federal Republic of Somalia in relation to the amended Cotonou Agreement.