The Future of the Relations between the European Union and the ACP Countries: the Green Book of the European Commission

• Main Author: Josep Baiges
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) 1998-04-01
• Series: Revista CIDOB d'Afers Internacionals
• Online Access: http://www.cidob.org/es/content/download/5661/54964/file/40-41baiges.pdf
• ISSN: 1133-6595; 2013-035X

Twenty-five years after the Lome Agreement, the negotiations for its renewal in the year 2000 supply the occasion for the European Union to reformulate the whole of its relations with the ACP countries in light of more experience and in consonance with the changes that have occurred in the greater international context. Also important for thenegotiations to consider are the changes now taking place in the evolutionary process of European integration plus the increasing heterogeneity of European members. In 1997, the European Union issued the Green Book, which analyzes and lays the groundwork for a dialogue centered around five major themes: the political dimension of association; the framework for Cooperation and its geographical extent; the spheres and priorities of action; the subject of commerce and investments; and the need for financial and technical cooperation. The text brings together the three major areas of EU foreign action —the common commercial policy, Cooperation for development, and the CFSP— by establishing a series of priorities framed within a global perspective. The Green Bookís aim is to integrate ACP countries in the global economy at the same timeaction is taken to foment integration of their populations in Europe. While it points to some objectives, it leaves options open: it also establishes a work program in which the communities institutions and those of the member States as well as those from the ACP countries have, by way of consultation and conferences, identifies the points of conflict about which the negotiations will turn.