EU’s 50th birthday: Congratulations from the ACP
Jacques Obia * On behalf of the ACP States, I take this opportunity to congratulate the European Union (EU) on its 50th anniversary as a political and economic entity. Since the Treaty of Rome was signed on 25 March 1957, the EU – the most successful regional integration process ever attempted – has become a major player in world politics and an indispensable development partner of many developing countries.
Jacques Obia
© EC Photo Library
National interests do drive the policy initiatives of individual countries. However, the success and endurance of the EU has shown that both national and collective interests in an integrative setting need not be mutually exclusive.
Therein lies a characteristic of the EU which demonstrates that unity in diversity is possible. This is an invaluable lesson for the 79-member ACP Group, given its size and far-flung geographical locations around the world.
The European Union has maintained its commitments to the ACP States. This is remarkable considering the challenges that it has to face as it expands its bloc boundaries, confronts new trading arrangements at home and abroad, and attempts to cope with emerging sociopolitical challenges in a globalizing world. The 10th European Development Fund is one of the latest illustrations of the EU’s willingness to sustain development endeavours for the ACP States.
This is in full compliance with one of the goals of the ACP Group which is to ensure the realisation of the objectives of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreements, and in particular, aim for the eradication of poverty, sustainable development, and the smooth and gradual integration of the ACP States into the world economy.
The ACP Group agrees that the Economic Partnership Agreements can be effective and efficient tools to achieve this objective, especially if they were truly development-oriented. To do so needs a strong and permanent political impetus. The ACP Group is confident that this underlying political commitment is shared by both the ACP and the EU, and will continue to be the main framework to steady our rich and dynamic partnership.
Once more, a happy 50th birthday to the European Union!
* Dean of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Committee of Ambassadors and Ambassador of the Republic of Congo
