Luxembourg's development cooperation - Annual report 2018

Under the Bulgarian Presidency, Luxembourg took part in the informal meeting of Development Ministers held in Brussels on 20 February 2018 and in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in its development configuration in Brussels on 22 May 2018. Under the Austrian Presidency, Luxembourg took part in the informal meeting of Development Ministers held in Brussels on 14 September 2018 and in the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in its development configuration in Brussels on 26 November 2018. The Minister also took part in the European Development Days held in Brussels on 5 June 2018.

Over the course of 2018, the Council, in its development configuration, addressed the following major issues:

Negotiations on a post-Cotonou agreement between the EU and the ACP group of countries

The partnership agreement between the EU and the ACP group (a grouping of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) – the largest and most sophisticated of the North-South partnerships – dates back to 1975. The successive Lomé Conventions (1975-2000) and the Cotonou Agreement (2000-2020) form the legal basis for this partnership, which currently involves 79 ACP countries and the 28 Member States of the EU. The Agreement allies political dialogue with cooperation on the financing of trade and development and is based on shared principles and values and the joint management of the joint institutions.

Since the Cotonou Agreement will end in February 2020 and given the development of the global context as well as institutional, political and socio-economic developments within the EU and the ACP countries, the Council of the European Union adopted on 22 June 2018 the mandate for the EU to negotiate on the future post-Cotonou agreement¹. For their part, the ACP countries adopted their negotiating position on 30 May 2018 and the negotiations on a future agreement began in September 2018, with the aim of signing a new agreement in the second half of 2019².

The EU is working towards a substantially revised agreement revolving around a common foundation at the ACP-EU level and three regional partnerships adapted for Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The future agreement should cover the priority areas such as democracy, good governance, human rights, economic growth and investments, climate change, poverty eradication, peace and security as well as migration and mobility.

The two revised versions of the draft negotiating mandate drawn up under the Bulgarian Presidency in the spring of 2018 included a good number of Luxembourg’s requests, especially to give increased importance to development cooperation, strengthening civil society, gender (including health and sexual and reproductive rights, unaccompanied migrant children, agriculture, vocational training, digital technology for development and microfinance. In contrast, the Grand Duchy’s request to soften the language used to refer to migration ran into opposition from other Member States was only accepted partially through the strengthening in this context of the language used with regard to international law, respect for human rights and the rights of migrants and refugees.