The second stakeholders conference of the Network for the Coordination and Advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa-EU Science and Technology Co-operation between Sub-Saharan Africa and the EU (CAAST. Net), is being held this week in Senegal.

During the course of the last Council meeting on General Affairs, which was held this week, ministers adopted a decision authorising the Commission to open negotiations on behalf of the EU for the renewal of a protocol to the EU's fisheries partnership agreement with Madagascar, as the existing will expire on 31 December 2012.

Following a key summit held last month, a final document which outlines initial actions to build a system for South-South (SSC) and Triangular cooperation (TrC) has been drafted  by a working group of multilateral partners, including the ACP Group, which has officially been a partner since the Busan Forum .  The Building Block on SSC and TrC will attempt to produce a “Menu of Practices” and a set of referential guidelines to encourage joint efforts.

During the course of a workshop recently hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, Secretary General Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas recalled the great potential of the ACP Group as an international partner. “We [..] believe that Europe will continually need the ACP to validate its evolving role as a global actor in international relations. As principal donor to the ACP, the EU has access to 79 member countries within its sphere of diplomatic and geopolitical influence.”

Following negotiations  in Guam last month, Pacific island nations and conservation groups were unable to convince all members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to enact more rigorous measures to protect the tuna supply.