The Cotonou Partnership Agreement: challenges and legacy for ACP-EU cooperation

On 15 November 2023, representatives of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) met in Apia, Samoa, to sign a partnership agreement which, for the next 20 years, will frame cooperation between these two parties. The new Samoa Agreement is the last step in the evolution of the EU-OACPS cooperation, and it marks the end of a crucial phase in the history of this partnership: the era of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA). For 23 years, the CPA framed the relation between the EU and its ACP partners. It revised several key features from the previous cooperation framework – the Lomé Conventions – introducing a new reciprocal trade regime, a more comprehensive approach aimed at encompassing all aspects of development, a particular attention to political dialogue with new joint institutions, and a participative strategy with provisions meant to foster civil society engagement. Because of its many new features and implications, the CPA has drawn the attention of many analysts and researchers; several authors examined different aspects of the Agreement since its early days until its most recent developments. The aim of this dissertation is to take stock of what the Cotonou era has meant for EU-ACP cooperation, gathering information from institutional and academic sources as well as reports and studies of other origins. By presenting the mechanisms and procedures behind the Cotonou Agreement, I intend to provide a clear understanding of the political dynamics which shaped it (e.g. role of member states, objectives of the parties) and of the instruments it uses (e.g. EDF, EPAs, joint institutions, Article 96). Then, I aim to produce a more comprehensive critical perspective of the Agreement in its many elements, by bringing together various assessments to review the effectiveness of its strategies and tools. The mixed results achieved by the CPA, which are highlighted in my work, should give some indications of the main challenges which this partnership faced. In the end, this should feed a reflection on the lessons learned in these 23 years and on the meaning of the new Samoa agreement, especially in a time in which multilateral cooperation is increasingly called into question.