ACP Secretariat

14 March: Trade Subcommittee
15-16 March: 41st Session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly
16-18 March: Inter-sessional meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

European Parliament

14-17 March: European Parliament Committee Meetings

Council of the EU

14  March: Agriculture and Fisheries Council
14 March: Foreign Affairs Council
15  March: General Affairs Council
17-18 March: European Council

European Commission

17-18 March: CSO Forum: EU engagement with civil society and support for human rights

Other events

14  March: Infopoint Lunchtime Conference: Hunger and Food Security
15 March: Infopoint Lunchtime Conference: Latest Eurobarometer results on development
17 March: InfoPoint Lunchtime conference: Time to Stop Illegal Wildlife Trafficking

The CTA Brussels News Service is providing EU-ACP policy news since 2004, on various key thematic areas. In addition to this news service, we also provide news on ACP intra-regional trade, and south-south cooperation (investments of emerging countries' in agriculture in the ACP regions). The main stories for the week are featured in our newsletter and all stories can be found in our Regional Trade and the South-South cooperation sections.

The oldest and most wide-reaching agreement between European donor countries and recipient nations is officially up for review. The Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the European Union and 79 countries, mostly former colonies, of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific group of states governs some 30.5 billion euros ($33.3 billion) in aid over the 2014-2020 period of the 11th European Development Fund. It also contains pillars to encourage political cooperation and promote trade. The new CPA will take effect in 2020, with an initial memorandum of understanding due in 2018, according to ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes.

Today EU Commissioner for International Development, Neven Mimica, pledged new EU development funding to Cuba on a visit to the country. The funding is part of an overall €50 million in development cooperation funds for Cuba to be provided over the period 2014-2020. Commissioner Mimica said: "The €10 million of new support we are announcing today will help build the capacities of the Cuban public administration and sustainable food production. The EU will continue to strengthen its cooperation with Cuba to support the modernisation process started by the Cuban government in 2008."

Ambassadors of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries in Brussels will soon examine the draft report of Eminent Persons regarding the future of the ACP Group, at a special meeting on the topic slated for 21 March. The 12-member Eminent Persons Group (EPG), chaired by the former President of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was created in 2013 and charged with reviewing the ACP Group as an organisation, including its successes and failures, and to provide recommendations for reforms in the future. During his inaugural address to the ACP Committee of Ambassadors as Chairman, H.E. Roger-Julien Menga of Congo (Brazzaville) said that the EPG report will be processed by ACP officials in Brussels, who will advise their Capitals in the lead up to the 8th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.