EU issues 'ultimatum' in tense final stretch of Cotonou talks

BRUSSELS — Both sides knew it would end like this. By leaving the most contentious issues until the finale of their yearslong negotiation on a new agreement on trade, political dialogue, and development cooperation, the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States always risked a bumpy landing. And so it was on Monday this week, when the EU’s chief negotiator, Jutta Urpilainen, issued what the OACPS side took as an “ultimatum.” Having publicly stated in a webinar the week before that she wanted a deal by mid-July, the EU commissioner for international partnerships said in a teleconference with her counterpart Robert Dussey, foreign minister of Togo, that OACPS had until Wednesday evening to lock in compromises on a range issues, including migration and efforts to get African states to accept the return of undocumented migrants from Europe. Returns were envisaged under the previous Cotonou Agreement, but with no mechanism to implement it, nothing happened. As one of those on the OACPS side told Devex of Urpilainen’s attempted power play on Monday, “It didn’t go down well.” “We are in the final stages. There are not many issues, but they are the sensitive issues that we knew would stay with us until the end. So it’s a question of goodwill,” the senior OACPS official, who requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing talks, told Devex. “I think it also calls for a little more diplomatic finesse on the part of the Europeans, rather than sort of trying to bulldoze the [OACPS].” “I don’t think it helps if she gives us ultimatums as she did [on Monday],” the official continued. “You have 79 countries, you have a minister sitting across from her. You know, you have to be not just civil, you also have to show respect, you know, and this is serious. … So to be told that we’ve run out of time and European countries who wanted to end the partnership might revert to their old position and so on, that is not the way to try to secure agreement.” As for the ultimatum, the source said that as talks continued at lower levels throughout this week, OACPS responded on some issues but maintained that more negotiation is necessary on others. “I don’t think you need to make much of the ultimatum — because we certainly didn’t,” the OACPS source said. Urpilainen, a former Finnish finance minister, was far from Brussels in 2016 when the European Commission, the EU executive, first released its blueprint for the successor to the 2000 Cotonou Agreement — the legal basis for relations between the EU and 79 African, Caribbean, and Pacific states. Almost four years later, after doubts from some on the EU side about whether the agreement should be discarded as a postcolonial anachronism and a power struggle on the OACPS side between its Brussels-based secretariat and the African Union in Ethiopia, the finish line is in sight. Urpilainen said during the June webinar that “around 95%” of the text is settled and all that remains are “some very political, sensitive questions.” Monday’s meeting was meant to address those sticking points. An agenda, seen by Devex, listed “open issues” such as language on the death penalty, the International Criminal Court, good governance in the tax area, maritime transport, sexual and reproductive health and rights, nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, implications for existing economic partnership agreements, migration, the return of cultural goods, and consequences if one side does not respect human rights, democratic principles, or the rule of law. In an email, a commission official told Devex that although “there are still a few outstanding issues,” Monday’s meeting was “frank and constructive” and that “common ground has been found on some issues” such as the nondiscrimination provision, electoral processes, and civil society. “I don’t think you need to make much of the ultimatum — because we certainly didn’t.” --— A senior OACPS official One of the remaining institutional sticking points is that the European Parliament and OACPS are both determined to maintain the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, a biannual meeting of European Parliament members and representatives from the parliaments of OACPS members. The commission official told Devex that because EU member states did not foresee a continuation of the JPA in their negotiating mandate to the commission, it “has no mandate to negotiate this item with the OACPS.” The commission is pushing for separate assemblies with each of the three regions instead. But Tomas Tobé, the center-right Swede who chairs the European Parliament’s development committee, told Devex that the JPA remains a red line for the European Parliament, which must vote on — though cannot amend — whatever agreement is reached. Some suspect the commission is betting that the Parliament will not torpedo the whole agreement, even without the continuation of the JPA. Tobé said that it would be “irresponsible” of the commission to put Parliament in such a position and that he would be “very surprised” if it tried. “Why is this so important for the European Union to tear down?” Tobé said. “The arguments are not really there.” The OACPS source said one compromise floated Wednesday by the commission would be for the regional parliamentary committees for each of the three OACPS regions to be able to join together to call for joint meetings with the European Parliament. “We have to make a judgment on whether the ad hoc basis works,” the source said, “but we are not going to pull the ground from under the European Parliament, which continues to support the continuation of the JPA.” The source said that for now, “it is not a proposal on the table; it’s just something that is floated. Sometimes you have to negotiate away from the table to try to arrive at something before you formally table it — so just testing the ground.” The next chief negotiators meeting is currently planned for Thursday next week.