01 Apr 2013

 President of ACP Group of States, Mr Phandu Skelemani has emphasised the need to reinvent the Africa Caribbean Pacific (ACP) as a meaningful player on the world stage.

Mr Phandu Skelemani said at the launch of Eminent Persons Group in Brussels that it has been troubling that the Lisbon Treaty makes no express reference to the long-standing partnership between the EU and the ACP.

His concern followed the Lisbon Treaty that came into force in December 2009 which seeks an overhaul of the European system and far-reaching restructuring of its key institutions.

He said it was unclear whether the EDF will come under the commission budget and if the ACP countries could feel entitled to a predictable source of development assistance as has been the case.

“Global re-alignments and major shifts in EU policy orientations have given rise to concerns of possible downgrading of the importance of the ACP-EU Partnership,” he said.

Mr Skelemani said the EU’s neighbourhood focus with regard to Eastern Europe and North Africa and its rapprochement with Latin America and the general thrust of its development policy re-orientation has led to considerable anxiety among ACP members.

On other issues, he said the future perspectives of the ACP was a challenge which confronted every member state. In this regard, he said the dialogue they engaged in should be membership driven.

“I wish to assure you that in the coming months member states and the peoples of the ACP will come forward to state their hopes and aspirations as well as measures that they propose should be taken to give concrete meaning to their vision for the future,” he said.

The setting up of the Eminent Persons Group followed the seventh summit of ACP Heads of State and Government to infuse a new spirit and more innovative ideas towards the repositioning of the ACP as an intergovernmental organisation.

The members of the Eminent Persons Group were selected from various regions, giving careful attention to visionary leadership, knowledge and experience. Ends