What is the Cotonou Partnership Agreement?
The Cotonou Partnership Agreement is the successor of the Yaoundé Conventions (1963 – 1975: EEC plus 18 African States) and the Lomé Conventions from 1975 until 2000 (Lomé I – Lomé IV bis; 46 states). The Cotonou Agreement was signed in 2000 for a period of 20 years and entered into force in April 2003 after the ratification process. It is designed to establish a comprehensive partnership, based on three complementary pillars: (i) development cooperation; (ii) economic and trade cooperation, and (iii) the political dimension. The Agreement is a huge step forward in ACP-EU and North-South relations which gives the framework for the EU relations with the biggest development grouping in the world. It is setting an innovative agenda in terms of political dialogue, non-state actors participation, trade and development and performance based management. The first revision of the Agreement was concluded in February 2005 and the revised agreement entered into force on 1st July 2008.
