Our partnership with the Member States of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) is one of the oldest and most comprehensive frameworks for cooperation between the EU and third countries. This partnership has deepened over time, as demonstrate the successive ACP-EU partnership agreements signed over the years since the first Lomé Convention (1975).
The Samoa Agreement
Our current relationship with the Member States of the OACPS is governed by the OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement, also known as the Samoa Agreement. The Agreement connects the EU and its Member States with the countries of the OACPS and unites over 2 billion people stretched over four continents. It is the most comprehensive partnership agreement ever signed between the EU and third countries.
The Agreement lays down common principles and covers the following priority areas:
- human rights, democracy and governance in people-centred and rights-based societies
- peace and security
- human and social development
- inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development
- environmental sustainability and climate change
- migration and mobility
The Agreement includes a common foundation, which applies to all Parties, combined with three regional protocols for Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific with a focus on the specific needs of each region.
With this new Agreement, the Parties will be better equipped to address emerging needs and global challenges. The Agreement also aims to contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement as overarching frameworks.
Background
In April 2020, the ACP Group of States became an international organisation: the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).
The previous legal framework for the partnership, the Cotonou Agreement, was signed in 2000 to replace the 1975 Lomé Convention and was concluded for a period of 20 years. The post-Cotonou negotiations started in September 2018, under the leadership of Commissioner Neven Mimica, in the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The chief negotiators initialled the new Agreement in April 2021. The Council adopted a decision on the signature and provisional application of the Agreement in July 2023.
The Samoa Agreement was officially signed on 15 November 2023 by the EU and its members states and OACPS members in Samoa. Its provisional application started on 1 January 2024. In April 2024 the European Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement. For the Agreement to enter fully into force, the parties will have to complete their respective internal approval procedures (Article 98(2)).
Related Links
- OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement
- Signature and ratification details of the OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement (Council)
- Press release: Samoa Agreement: EU and its Member States sign new Partnership Agreement with the Members of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States
- Consent of the European Parliament to the conclusion of the Agreement
- Council decision on the signing and provisional application
- Cotonou Agreement (background information)
- Press release: Post-Cotonou: Negotiators reach a political deal on a new EU/Africa-Caribbean-Pacific Partnership Agreement (European Commission)