Annual Operational Review 2003 ESA Region EC Co-operation

The Cotonou Agreement attaches particular emphasis to regional economic integration and the role of regional organisations (see Art.28-30 and Annex IV, Art. 6-14). Regional organisations with an economic integration mandate are privileged partners for regional co-operation support. Based on this new orientation the geographical configuration for regional co-operation in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean (ESA region) is different for the 9th EDF. The new ESA region, as decided by the ACP side, comprises the combined ACP membership of four regional organisations: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African Community (EAC) and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). All members of these four organisations are ACP countries apart from Egypt (member of COMESA) and France, on behalf of its Overseas Department of la Reunion (member of IOC). The ESA region comprises thus the following countries: Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Ten out of these countries also participate in the SADC Regional Indicative Programme. The EDF 9 RSP/RIP was signed on 19 November 2002 in Kampala by the four regional organisations and Director General Koos Richelle. The Operational Review of EC/ESA regional cooperation is the first of its kind and stems from a desire to mirror the requirement of the Cotonou Agreement (Article 5 of Annex IV) which stipulates that Annual Operational Reviews (AORs) will be carried out in respect of all Country Strategy Papers/National Indicative Programmes (CSPs/NIPs). The carrying out of an AOR for Regional Cooperation is to a large extent based on the idea that an annual review of the regional operations and implementation of the ESA RSP/ RIP may provide a useful monitoring tool and a mechanism to identify at an earlier stage possible problems or challenges in terms of implementing the RIP. This exercise would in turn also facilitate the preparation for the Mid-Term Review (MTR - a requirement of Article 11 of Annex IV of the Cotonou Agreement) that is to be undertaken in early 2005 and give an indication of what can be expected from this review. Another rationale is to complement what is looked at in the AORs of the CSPs/NIPs from a regional perspective. These are the main objectives with this AOR which will look at the operations and developments in EC/ESA cooperation for the year 2003. In addition, this exercise will also cover the operational review of the cooperation activities under the 6 — 8 EDF with the EA region and with the IO region. While the review will concentrate on development co-operation aspects, trade and political dialogue matters will also be covered.