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Fiji attends high level dialogue on post Cotonou negotiations

March 2, 2019 6:08 am

The Minister for Industry & Trade, Premila Kumar attended the High-level Dialogue on post Cotonou negotiations in Apia, Samoa

The Leaders from the Pacific African, Caribbean, Pacific and the European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica met to discuss the new agreement.

The High-level Dialogue was an opportunity for the Pacific ACP Leaders to raise concerns and identify key priorities for the Region to be part of the negotiations

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Minister Kumar emphasized at the High-level Dialogue that whilst we are finalizing the new EUACP partnership, there is critical need to simplify the process and have clear financial mechanisms.

Prior to the High-level Dialogue, the Pacific ACP Senior Officials met and strongly recommended to the Pacific ACP Leaders that the Pacific-EU partnership needs to be on equal footing and to recognize the relevant strengths of the parties.

Senior officials also emphasized that the parties must take into account the lessons from the implementation of the Cotonou Agreement and ensure that there are no unilateral decisions made without adequate consultations with the parties.

The EU and ACP relations has been governed by the Cotonou Agreement, which will expire on 29 February 2020.