Storja

DACP: Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created out of a common desire to bring together the elected representatives of the European Community - the Members of the European Parliament - and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states ("ACP countries") that have signed the Cotonou Agreement.

It is the only institution of its kind in the world, and the only international assembly in which the representatives of various countries sit together regularly with the aim of promoting the interdependence of North and South.

The European Parliament Delegation

The European Parliament Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (DACP) consists of 78 Members of the European Parliament - one for each ACP country.

The main task of the Delegation is to prepare the meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, to evaluate and follow-up the activities at the European Parliament level, to organise meetings with ACP high-level personalities, and to discuss topical subjects related to the implementation of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement.

The Delegation also meets with representatives of the Commission, the European External Action Service, civil society and the opposition in ACP countries in order to build expertise, as well as to engage in efficient parliamentary diplomacy and build relations.

The Delegation's secretariat works in close cooperation with the General Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, which is based in Brussels.

Each year up to 10 ordinary and extraordinary meetings of the Delegation are organised.

Since 2014 the Delegation has welcomed:

  • Rémy Ngoy Lumbu, Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (22 November 2018)
  • Ambassador Awad Sakine Ahmat, Permanent Representative of the African Union to the European Union (24 April 2018)
  • Corneille Nangaa Yobeluo, Chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Democratic Republic of the Congo (25 October 2017)
  • Komi Sélom Klassou, Prime Minister of Togo (24 October 2017)
  • Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chair of the African Union Commission (16 May 2017)
  • Aubin Minaku, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (9 March 2017)
  • Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic, and Abdou Karim Meckassoua, President of the National Assembly of the Central African Republic (16 November 2016)
  • Thabo Mbeki, Chair of the High Level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows, former President of the Republic of South Africa (21 April 2016)
  • Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia (4 March 2015)
  • Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) on Global response on Ebola and the way forward (4 March 2015)
  • parliamentarians from the National Assembly of Guinea (26 February 2015)
  • 2014 Sakharov Prize laureate Denis Mukwege (24 November 2014).

ACP-EU relations

The EU maintains a special partnership with the ACP countries, due to common historical ties and the decolonisation of ACP countries.

Parliamentary aspects are considered essential, in order to provide a democratic overview of the government and executive.

In this spirit, parliamentary representatives of the 78 ACP countries and 78 Members of the European Parliament meet twice a year in the Joint Parliamentary Assembly. They also meet in the inter-session meetings and regional meetings.

2009-2014

In the Parliament's seventh legislative term, which ran from 2009 to 2014, the Delegation participated in the following sessions of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly:

  • 2009 in November in Luanda (Angola)
  • 2010 in March/April in Tenerife (Spain), in December in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • 2011 in May in Budapest (Hungary), in November in Lomé (Togo)
  • 2012 in May in Horsens (Denmark), in November in Paramaribo (Suriname)
  • 2013 in June in Brussels (Belgium), in November in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
  • 2014 in March in Strasbourg (France).

Since 2014

During the Parliament's eighth term, the Delegation participated in the following sessions of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly:

  • 2014 in December in Strasbourg (France)
  • 2015 in June in Suva (Fiji), in December in Brussels (Belgium)
  • 2016 in June in Windhoek (Namibia), in December in Nairobi (Kenya)
  • 2017 in June in St Julian's (Malta), in December in Port-au-Prince (Haiti)
  • 2018 in June in Brussels (Belgium), in December in Cotonou (Benin).
  • 2019 in March in Bucharest (Romania)

Delegation Chair

From 2009 to July 2019 the Delegation was chaired by Louis Michel (ALDE, Belgium).

Previous chairs of the Delegation were

  • Glenys Kinnock (PES, UK) from 2002 to 2009
  • John Corrie (EPP, UK) from 1999 to 2002
  • The Lord Plumb (EPP, UK) from 1994 to 1999
  • Maria Luisa Cassanmagnago Cerretti (EPP, Italy) from 1992 to 1994
  • Leo C. Tindemans (EPP, Belgium) from 1989 to 1992
  • Giovanni Bersani (EPP, Italy) from 1985 to 1989.