71 Countries Sign the Samoa Agreement

By Lagi Keresoma

Apia, Samoa – 16 November 2023: Finally, 71 countries from the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific (OACP) – European Union (EU) signed the Samoa Agreement Wednesday 15 November after two days of meetings in Apia.

The denomination of the Agreement was agreed at the 46th session of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, which took place right before the signature ceremony, also in Samoa.

The signatories to the Samoa Agreement so far include 47 OACP countries and 27 from the European Union.

The Samoa Agreement aims at strengthening the partnership and assistance between OACP-EU in addressing social-economic development and challenges.

Asked how much the EU is injecting into the Samoa Agreement for OACP countries for the next 20 years, the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Her Excellency Jutta Urpilainen said there are three protocols for addressing specific needs of the OACP region.

The new Partnership Agreement lays down common principles and covers the following priority areas including:

• human rights, democracy and governance

• peace and security

• human and social development

• inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development

• environmental sustainability and climate change

• migration and mobility

HE Urpilainen said OACP-EU is moving away from the old models to a win-win partnership fit for the world today and the Samoa Agreement will help both sides to better address global challenges together and will reinforce bilateral cooperation in a wide range of aspects in working towards a collective power of partnership.

She also urged countries who have not signed to do so before the end of the year or face the consequences of losing out on opportunities such as business access to the European Investment Bank.

The 27 EU member states and the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries together represent around 2 billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations. With this new Agreement, the Parties will be better equipped to address emerging needs and global challenges, such as climate change, ocean governance, migration, health, peace and security.

Next steps
The provisional application of the Agreement will start on 1 January 2024. The Agreement will enter into force upon consent by the European Parliament and ratification by the Parties, i.e. all EU Member States and at least two thirds of the OACPS Members.