EU/ACP Agreement: second revision of the EC/African, Caribbean and Pacific States' 2000 Cotonou Partnership Agreement

The Committee on Development adopted the report by Michael CASHMAN (S&D, UK) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement amending for the second time the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, as first amended in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005.

The committee recommends the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement. It expresses its strongest reservations about parts of the Agreement which do not reflect the position of the European Parliament and the values of the Union.

Members urge all parties to revise the unsatisfactory clauses accordingly during a third revision of the Agreement, including the explicit introduction of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation within Article 8(4) (non-discrimination clause in policy dialogue).