Resolution on the Replenishment of the European Development Fund (EDF)

CM/Res.1609 (LXII)

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RESOLUTION ON THE REPLENISHMENT OF THE EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND (EDF)

The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Sixty-Second Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 21 to 23 June, 1995,

Recalling the historical, political and moral ties that bind the States constituting the European Union and the ACP Group of States,

Having regard to the outcome of the negotiating meeting of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers held on 30 November and 1 December, 1994 and 15 and 16 January 1995 in Brussels,

Having regard to the Resolution adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly at its meeting held in Dakar in February 1995 on the state of progress in the negotiations for the mid-term review of the 4^th June Lome Convention,

Emphasizing the special nature of the Lome Convention which, by its provisions, constitutes a unique programme of cooperating in the framework of relations between developed and developing countries,

Highly concerned that the last ACP-EU Council Session came to an abrupt end without any agreement on the amount of the financial envelope,

Considering that development aid for ACP countries in general and, for African States in particular has been reduced in real terms whilst, at the same time, there is a marked progression in the European Union’s external expenditure:

1. DEEPLY REGRETS the position adopted by some Member States of the European Union which seem insensitive to the increasing difficulties of their ACP partners;

2. STRONGLY APPEALS to those Member States which have expressed their intention to reduce their financial contribution to the European Development Fund development to review their decision;

3. REQUESTS that the financial envelope takes due account of such realities as: the enlargement of the European Union, the rate of inflation, inclusion of new principles and a suspension clause in the Lome IV Convention, and the debt burden, among others,

4. CONSIDERS that the amount of 13.3 billion ECU indicated during information contacts, can only be considered as the strict acceptable minimum;