19 Apr 2021

Webinar: "The EU-OACPS Agreement: insights from the protagonists"

From 16:30 till 18:00
Webinar

Natolin (Warsaw) Campus
ul. Nowoursynowska 84
PL-02/797 Warszawa
Poland

Natolin (Warsaw) Campus

On Monday, 19 April 2021, the College of Europe in Natolin and the University of Glasgow jointly hosted a webinar to discuss the new agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).

"The EU-OACPS Agreement: insights from the protagonists"

The webinar looked at the different rationales for the new agreement between the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States. The conclusion of the negotiations for the successor to the Cotonou Agreement came after more than two years of intense talks involving an array of policy experts, ambassadors, and ministers. The EU-OACPS Agreement marks a departure from its predecessors in terms of both form and substance: first, it introduces an unprecedented framework for cooperation (articulated in a common base with three distinct regional protocols); second, it establishes a political partnership for mutually beneficial outcomes, with six equally important objectives, thus going beyond previous emphasis on development.

The webinar was introduced by Professor Maurizio CARBONE, Jean Monnet Chair at the University of Glasgow and Visiting Professor at College of Europe in Natolin.

The key speakers were Mr Domenico ROSA, Head of Post-Cotonou Taskforce, European Commission, and H.E. Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr Pa’olelei LUTERU, Ambassador of Samoa to the European Union and Chair of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors.

About the speakers:

Mr Domenico ROSA is Head of Unit for Strategic Partnerships with Africa and OACPS in the Directorate General for International Partnerships of the European Commission. Before this, he was Member of Cabinet of Commissioner Mr Andris PIEBALGS and Commissioner Mr Luis MICHEL. In the post-Cotonou negotiations, as Head of the Taskforce set up by the European Commission, he led the negotiations at technical level of the General Part of the Agreement as well as the African, Caribbean and Pacific Regional Protocols.

H.E. Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr Pa’olelei LUTERU is the Ambassador of the Independent State of Samoa to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union since April 2012 and Chair of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors since February 2021. Before this, he worked in different capacities at the University of the South Pacific and was Assistant Secretary General at the ACP Secretariat from 2000 to 2005. In the post-Cotonou negotiations, he was member of the OACPS Central Negotiating Group of Ambassadors and lead negotiator of the Pacific Regional Protocol.

Dr Maurizio CARBONE is a Professor of International Relations & Development and Jean Monnet Professor of EU External Policies in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow and Visiting Professor at College of Europe in Natolin. His main research interests are on the politics of international development, foreign aid, and the EU’s external relations, particularly its partnerships with Africa and the OACPS.

 

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