Date of release : 06-06-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Event : 30th session of the EU-ACP Council of Ministers

The signature of the Georgetown Agreement on 6 June 1975 establishing the ACP Group of States was a clear demonstration of the willingness of 46 independent African, Caribbean and Pacific States to affirm their common identity, to strengthen their links of solidarity and to face the challenges of development.

In the same year the first Lomé Convention was signed. This Convention formed the basis for a solidarity pact on development between the ACP Group, the European Community and the nine Member States of the time.

The special relationship between the European Union, today with 25 Member States, and the ACP Group, which today has 78 members, has been increasingly developing over the past 30 years. The unity of the ACP Group and the solidarity between its members has been the decisive factor in this context.  Through successive renewals of the EU-ACP Conventions we have ensured that the objectives and instruments of cooperation between the EU and the ACP Group are improved in order to adapt to the new demands of development in a world that is constantly changing.

Just before the signing in Luxembourg in a few days time of the revised Cotonou Agreement, the Presidency of the EU would like to reiterate its strong determination to continue the strong and durable partnership with the ACP Group in support of development.