Europa/Development/Cotonou Aggreement

The provided text contains the annexes and protocols of the Cotonou Agreement, detailing the financial, institutional, and administrative frameworks for cooperation between the European Community and the ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) States. It specifies the allocation of the 9th European Development Fund (EDF), the operation of the Investment Facility, rules for project programming and implementation, and the roles of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) and the Centre for the Development of Agriculture (CTA).

• For the five-year period starting 1 March 2000, the European Community committed a total of EUR 15,200 million in financial assistance to ACP States. This includes up to EUR 13,500 million from the 9th European Development Fund (EDF) and up to EUR 1,700 million in loans from the European Investment Bank's own resources.
• The 9th EDF is divided into three primary grant and loan envelopes: EUR 10,000 million for long-term development (including specific budgets for the CDE and CTA), EUR 1,300 million for regional cooperation and integration, and EUR 2,200 million for the Investment Facility.
• The Investment Facility is designed as a financially sustainable revolving fund that provides risk capital (equity, quasi-capital, and guarantees) and ordinary loans. It offers concessional terms, such as a 3% interest rate reduction for infrastructure projects in Least Developed Countries or post-conflict countries, provided the final rate is not less than 50% of the reference rate.
• To mitigate the impact of short-term fluctuations in export earnings, additional financial support is available to ACP States. Eligibility is based on a 10% loss of export earnings (reduced to 2% for least-developed countries) compared to a four-year average, combined with a 10% worsening of the programmed public deficit.
• The Agreement establishes the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE) to provide non-financial services to ACP companies to increase competitiveness and the Centre for the Development of Agriculture (CTA) to strengthen institutional capacity and information management in agricultural and rural development.
• National programming is based on a Country Support Strategy (CSS) and an indicative programme. Resource allocation is determined by needs (per capita income, population, indebtedness, and vulnerability of island/landlocked states) and performance (institutional reforms, resource use, and poverty reduction).
• Regional cooperation involves operations benefiting two or more ACP States or a regional body. Programming involves a Regional Support Strategy (RSS) and a Regional Indicative Programme (RIP), with specific support provided to ACP States negotiating economic partnership agreements with the EU.
• The Agreement mandates non-discriminatory treatment for companies and firms of the EU and ACP States. It establishes specific procurement thresholds: works contracts over EUR 5 million require open international tenders, while supply contracts over EUR 150,000 and service contracts over EUR 200,000 follow similar international competitive procedures.
• Price preferences are granted to ACP tenderers to encourage local participation: a 10% preference for works contracts under EUR 5 million (if at least 25% of capital/management is ACP) and a 15% preference for supply contracts where at least 50% of the value is of ACP origin.
• The management structure involves three key roles: the Chief Authorising Officer (Commission) manages the Fund's resources; the National Authorising Officer (ACP Government) handles project preparation and local tenders; and the Head of Delegation (Commission) represents the EU in the ACP State and approves various contracts.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Europa/Development/Cotonou Aggreement. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/COTONOUANX.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Europa/Development/Cotonou Aggreement. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/COTONOUANX.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Europa/Development/Cotonou Aggreement |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/COTONOUANX.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndeuropadevelopmentcotonou, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Europa/Development/Cotonou Aggreement}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/COTONOUANX.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }