The Samoa Agreement is the cardinal framework for European Union relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
The previous partnership framework, the Cotonou Agreement, was adopted in 2000 to replace the 1975 Lomé Convention. It was concluded for a 20-year period.
The Cotonou Agreement was initially due to expire in February 2020, but its provisions have been extended until the new partnership known as the Samoa Agreement between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries provisionally applied or entered into force.
On July 20, 2023, the European Union Council approved the provisional application of the partnership agreement as the new legal framework for the next 20 years, succeeding the Cotonou agreement.
The new agreement was officially signed on November 15, 2023, by the EU and its member-states and OACPS members in Samoa, an island nation located about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.
Its provisional application started on the first day of the second month after the signature.
The new partnership agreement will serve as the new legal framework for EU relations with 79 countries. This includes 48 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific countries.
Around 2 billion people are covered by the agreement.
The agreement aims to strengthen the capacity of the EU and the ACP countries to address global challenges together.
It lays down common principles and covers the following six priority areas: democracy and human rights; sustainable economic growth and development; climate change human and social development; peace and security and migration and mobility.
Other areas covered in the agreement include human and social development: Access to social services, education, health, food security and improved nutrition, water, sanitation services and housing, social cohesion and protection, population and development, women development and involvement of youths in the implementation of policies affecting them.
The partnership also covered decent work, demography, culture and sustainable development, cultural diversity and mutual understanding, cultural heritage and creative sectors, mobilisation of sustainable and responsible investment, investment facilitation and protection, inclusive and sustainable growth, economic transformation and industrialisation, private sector development, science, technology and innovation, research and development, ICT and the digital economy, maritime security, proliferation of arms and so on.
The agreement also includes other cross-cutting themes to drive action in all areas of cooperation: gender equality, peace and security, environmental protection, the fight against climate change, culture and youth, terrorism, organised crimes, and others.
Below are the highlights of the agreement which Nigeria was yet to sign.
Human development
The parties shall cooperate to support capacity building to effectively address challenges and achieve the objectives set out in this Agreement. They shall aim to strengthen institutions, promote the exchange of best practices and facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.
The parties shall strengthen the resilience of countries, communities and individuals, and particularly that of vulnerable populations, in the face of environmental and climate change-related challenges, economic shocks, conflicts political crises and epidemics and pandemics.
The parties reaffirm their determination to promote, protect and fulfill human rights, fundamental freedoms and democratic principles, and to strengthen the rule of law and good governance, in compliance with the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, in particular international human rights law and, where relevant, international humanitarian law.
The parties recognise that respect for democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and good governance is an integral part of sustainable development.
Rule of law
The parties, recognising that human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, shall promote, protect and fulfil all human rights, be they civil, political, economic, social or cultural. They shall protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all fundamental freedoms, such as the freedom of opinion and expression, the freedom of assembly and association, and the freedom of thought, religion and belief.
The parties shall commit to the promotion of universal respect for, and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without discrimination based on any ground including sex, ethnic or social origin, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, disability, age, or other status. They commit to fighting all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and all forms of violence and discrimination, including all instances of advocacy of hatred. They commit to the recognition and advancement of the rights of indigenous peoples, as set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The parties shall have a partnership dialogue at the bilateral level on the death penalty. Where the death penalty is provided for in national legislation and is still applied, the parties shall adhere to due process and internationally agreed minimum standards.
They shall preserve and strengthen the application of those principles by ensuring inclusive, transparent and credible elections with due respect for sovereignty, as well as by allowing and supporting participatory decision-making processes. The parties shall promote the upholding of electoral best practices and cooperation between them, including on electoral observation within the EU Party and OACPS Members, as appropriate.
They shall actively support the consolidation of the rule of law at national, regional and international levels, acknowledging its crucial importance for the protection of human rights and for the effective functioning of democratic institutions. That includes ensuring the existence of an independent, impartial and well-functioning judicial system, equality before the law, the right to a fair trial and due process and access to effective mechanisms of legal redress.
The parties recognise the right to development based on the indivisibility, interdependence, universality and inalienability of all human rights, by virtue of which every human being and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised.
The parties agree that respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law shall underpin their domestic and international policies and constitute an essential element of this Agreement.
Gender equality
The parties reaffirm their strong commitment to achieving gender equality, the full enjoyment of all human rights by all, as well as everyone’s empowerment as a driver for sustainable development. They shall embody the principle of gender equality in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation.
The parties acknowledge that gender inequality deprives women of their basic human rights and opportunities. They shall adopt and strengthen enforceable legislation, legal frameworks and sound policies, programmes and mechanisms to ensure women’s and girls’ equal access to, equal opportunities in, equal control over, and full and equal participation in, all spheres of life, on an equal footing with men and boys.
The parties shall focus, in particular, on improving the access of women, and where appropriate girls, to all resources they need throughout life for the realisation of their full potential and the full exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as in respect of quality education, health, employment opportunities, access to and control over economic resources, political decision-making, governance structures and private undertakings, with a special emphasis on women in vulnerable situations.
They shall promote women’s full and effective participation in and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
The parties undertake to prevent, combat and prosecute all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and discrimination in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual exploitation and abuse. They shall take all necessary measures to tackle deeply rooted gender bias and eliminate all harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation and cutting.
Pluralistic societies
The parties undertake to ensure equal opportunities for all members of society in all spheres of life. They shall prevent, prohibit and eradicate discriminatory practices and shall adopt effective measures to ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights.
They shall protect and promote freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly, and media independence and pluralism as pillars of democracy, noting that these are not only human rights but also prerequisites for democracy, development and dialogue.
The parties shall foster inclusive and pluralistic societies, including multi-party democracy. They shall promote the key role of effective, transparent and accountable national and local assemblies and political parties. They shall also promote the active and genuine participation of all stakeholders and citizens, including women and youth, in responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative political processes and decision-making at all levels.
The parties shall preserve and broaden an enabling space for an active, organised, transparent civil society, acknowledging its role in promoting and monitoring democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms, social justice and inclusion, and as defenders of rights holders and of the rule of law, thus strengthening domestic transparency and accountability.
Good governance
The parties reaffirm that good governance rests on transparent, responsible, accountable and participatory governments and appropriate oversight mechanisms. They agree that good governance is critical to the respect of all human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law.
The parties commit to the transparent and accountable management of human, natural, economic and financial resources for the purposes of equitable benefit sharing and sustainable development.
The parties commit to the creation of an enabling environment for transparency and accountability to thrive in public administration, including enhancing the integrity and independence of governance institutions. The parties shall develop and implement sound public finance management systems compatible with the fundamental principles of effectiveness, transparency and accountability, with a view to protecting public finances and improving the delivery of public services by eliminating administrative bottlenecks and tackling regulatory deficiencies.
The parties shall ensure transparency and accountability in public funding, including financial assistance, and in the delivery of public services. They shall improve revenue collection and tackle tax evasion and avoidance and illicit financial flows. They agree to cooperate in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing and engage in timely partnership dialogue at bilateral and international levels on matters related to anti-money laundering and terrorism financing.
They shall combat corruption at all levels and in all its forms, developing and implementing or maintaining effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies that reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity, transparency and accountability. They shall adopt legislative and other measures to prevent and prosecute bribery and embezzlement, misappropriation or other diversion of resources by public officials for their direct or indirect benefit, and to recover and return assets obtained through corruption.
The parties recognise and commit themselves to implementing the principles of good governance in the tax area, including the global standards on transparency and exchange of information, fair taxation and the minimum standards against Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.
The parties agree that good governance shall underpin their domestic and international policies and constitutes a fundamental element of this Agreement. They also agree that serious cases of corruption, including acts of bribery leading to such corruption, constitute a violation of that element.
Conflicts and crises
The parties shall apply an integrated approach to conflict and crises, including prevention, mediation, resolution and reconciliation efforts as well as crisis management, peacekeeping and peace support.
They shall cooperate to prevent and address the root causes of conflict and instability holistically. They shall pay special attention to the effective governance of natural resources, notably in relation to raw materials, so as to sustainably benefit society as a whole and ensure that illegal exploitation and trade do not contribute to causing and sustaining conflict.
Non-proliferation of weapons
The parties acknowledge that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, both to state and non-state actors, represents one of the most serious threats to international stability and security.
The parties therefore agree to cooperate in, and contribute to countering the proliferation of WMD and their means of delivery, in full compliance with, and domestic implementation of, their existing obligations under international disarmament and non-proliferation treaties and agreements, as well as other relevant international obligations. The parties agree that this provision constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.
Serious crimes
The parties agree to act together to prevent genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by making use of appropriate bilateral and multilateral frameworks, in line with the principle of responsibility to protect.
The parties, reaffirming that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished, shall ensure the fair and effective investigation and prosecution thereof by taking measures at national, regional and international levels, as appropriate.
The parties consider that the establishment and effective functioning of the International Criminal Court constitutes an important development for international peace and justice.
The parties, reiterating their firm condemnation of all acts of terrorism and violent extremism and radicalisation, undertake to combat those acts through international cooperation, in accordance with the UN Charter and international law, relevant conventions and instruments.
The parties, recognising that the fight against terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations is a shared priority, shall work together at all levels to prevent and combat terrorism, violent extremism and radicalisation.
Organised crime
The parties, acknowledging the negative political, economic, cultural, and social implications of organised criminal activities, shall strengthen cooperation to prevent and combat those activities more effectively.
