Towards a New Partnership between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries after 2020 - Summary Report of Public Consultation

In October 2015, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy launched a public consultation on the basis of a Joint Consultation Paper (JCP) entitled "Towards a new partnership between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries after 2020".

The purpose was to initiate the discussion on the key questions pertaining to the partnership and relations with the group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries after 2020. The outcomes of the public consultation are reviewed in this report and will contribute to the evaluation of the current Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) and to the setting out of policy proposals for a future relationship.

Although a wide range of stakeholders have contributed to the consultation, no robust trend could be drawn from the analysis regarding commonalities and/or divergences based on categories of stakeholder. Identified key messages are generally wide-ranging and common to several groups of stakeholders, regardless of their category or geographical origin. A major problem highlighted is the difficulty to attribute progress or lack thereof specifically to the CPA framework or to EU policy as a whole.

Main findings and key messages are summarised below.