| dc.description.abstract | 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. | |
