The 79-member African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group was established in 1975 with the aim of partnering the European Economic Community, now the 28-member European Union (EU), to promote the sustainable development of countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, and to
integrate them into the global economy on more equitable terms. The Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), Cape Town, South Africa, convened about 30 leading policymakers, scholars, and civil society actors to assess the nature of the relationship between the ACP Group and the EU and the potential for their further strategic engagement, as the final five-year review of the Cotonou Agreement of 2000 between the two sides approaches in 2015. The seminar also sought to support the ACP Group’s institutional reform efforts and the broadening of future relations with new non-European partners such as China, Brazil, India, and Russia. Discussions focused on seven key themes: the ACP/EU historical and trade relationship; the past, present, and future of this relationship; the impact of
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs); South Africa’s engagement with the ACP and the EU; the security dimension of the ACP/EU relationship; comparative regional integration in the Caribbean and the Pacific and geo-politics and migration.
