Considerations on COM(2012)213 - EU position within the ACP-EU Council of Ministers concerning the status of South Sudan in relation to the Partnership Agreement with the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States

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dossier COM(2012)213 - EU position within the ACP-EU Council of Ministers concerning the status of South Sudan in relation to the Partnership ...
document COM(2012)213 EN
date June  7, 2012
 
table>(1)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 (2), was first amended in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 (3) and was amended for the second time in Ouagadougou on 22 June 2010 (4) (‘the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement’). The second amendment has been provisionally applied since 31 October 2010.
(2)Article 94 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement stipulates that any request for accession by a State is to be presented to, and approved by, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers.

(3)On 20 March 2012, the Republic of South Sudan presented a request for accession in accordance with Article 94 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement and a request for observer status, enabling it to participate in the joint institutions set up by that Agreement, until the accession procedure is completed.

(4)The approval by the ACP-EU Council of Ministers of the accession of South Sudan, and the granting in the meantime of observer status to South Sudan, until 20 November 2012, by the ACP-EU Council of Ministers should be approved by the Union. South Sudan should deposit the Act of Accession with the Depositaries of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, namely, the Secretariat-General of the Council of the European Union and the Secretariat of the ACP States, no later than that date.

(5)It is therefore appropriate to establish the position to be taken by the Union within the ACP-EU Council of Ministers concerning the status of South Sudan in relation to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement.

(6)The position of the Union within the ACP-EU Council of Ministers should be based on the attached draft Decision,