The Application of Human Rights in African Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Development and Trade Partnership

German Law Journal

Volumn 6, Issue 10, 2005, Pages 1381-1406

  Nwobike, Justice ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX   (United Kingdom)

^b RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY   (Nigeria)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84856712322     PISSN: None     EISSN: 20718322     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S2071832200014383     Document Type: Article

References (114)

1. The Agreement was signed on 23 June 2000 and came into force on 1 April 2003. It replaced the Lome Conventions which had regulated the ACP-EU relationship for over 25 years. The full text of the Cotonou Agreement is available in OJ L 317, 15 December 2000 [hereinafter the Cotonou Agreement]. For an overview of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement
2. see THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: THE COTONOU AGREEMENT (O. Babarinde/G. Faber eds., 2005);
3. S. D. Salama/C. M. Salama, The New EU ACP Partnership Agreement, 14 J. INT’L DEV. 899 (2002);
4. Karin Arts, ACP-EU Relations in a New Era: The Cotonou Agreement, 40 COM. MARK. L. REV. 95 (2003);
5. Bernd Martenczuk, From Lome to Cotonou: The ACP-EC Partnership Agreement in a Legal Perspective, 5 EUR. FOR. AFF. REV. 461 (2000).
6. The ACP-EC COURIER 19 (September 2000), special issue.
7. The ACP group was founded in 1975 with the signing of the Georgetown Agreement. The ACP group is composed of the following Countries: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Cote d’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Equitorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Micronesia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Niue Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, St Kitts and Namo, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is worthy of note that Cuba is a member of the ACP Group but is not a signatory to the Cotonou agreement.
8. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 1(1).
9. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 9. Article 9(3) makes good governance a fundamental element of the Agreement and any breach will attract the measures stipulated in Article 97.
10. When negotiations are successfully concluded, it is expected that the EPA will regulate the trade relationship between the ACP countries and the EU, effective as of 2008.
11. Trade Negotiation Insight, 6 (July 2004), available at: http://www.ictsd.org/tni/tni_english/ TNI_EN_3-4.pdf (last accessed 23 May 2005).
12. Adopted 26 June 1945, 59 Stat. 1031, T.S. 993, 3 Bevans 1153, entered into force 24 October 1945 [hereinafter UN Charter].
13. 10 December 1948, G.A. Res. 217A (III), U.N. GAOR, 3d Sess., (Resolutions, part 1), at 71, U.N. Doc. A/810 (1948), reprinted in: 43 AM. J. INT’L L. SUPP. 127 (1949) [hereinafter UDHR].
14. See Title I and V of the EU Constitution 2004, OJ C 31, 16 December 2004. The EU Constitution has not yet entered into force.
15. European Human Rights Report 2004, 49, available at: http://ue.eu.int/uedocs/cmsUpload /ENHR2004.pdf (last accessed 22 May 2005).
16. D. C. Horng, The Human Rights Clause in the European Union’s External Trade and Development Agreements, 9 EUR. L. J. 677 (2003).
17. For a detailed historical account see KARIN ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS INTO DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION: THE CASE OF THE LOME CONVENTION (2000), particularly chapter 5 [hereinafter ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS].
18. M. K. Addo, Some Issues in European Community Aid Policy and Human Rights, 1 LEGAL ISSUES OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION 73 (1988).
19. Concluded on 26 June 1981, entered into force on 21 October 1986, OAU Doc CAB/LEG/67/3 Rev. 5, reprinted in: 21 ILM 59 (1982).
20. Article 5(1) of the Lome Convention IV states that: Cooperation shall be directed towards development centered on man, the main protagonist and beneficiary of development, which entails respect for and promotion of all human rights. Cooperative operations shall thus be conceived in accordance with the positive approach, where respect for human rights is recognised as a basic factor of real development and where cooperation is conceived as contributing to the promotion of these rights. In this context development policy and cooperation are closely linked with the respect for and enjoyment of fundamental human rights. The role and potential of initiatives taken by individuals and groups shall also be recognised and fostered in order to achieve in practice real participation of the population in the development process in accordance with Article 13.
21. Karin Arts/J. Byron, The Mid-Term Review of the Lome IV Convention: Heralding the Future?, 18 THIRD WORLD Q. 73, 77 (1997).
22. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Articles 96-97.
23. European Union Negotiating Mandate for Economic Partnership Agreements, adopted 21 June 2002, available at: http://www.epawatch.net/documents/doc71_2.doc (last accessed 23 May 2005).
24. ELENA FIERRO, THE EU’S APPROACH TO HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONALITY IN PRACTICE, 245 (2003).
25. E. Riedel/M. Will, Human Rights Clauses in External Agreements of the EC, in THE EU AND HUMAN RIGHTS, 723 (Philip Alston et al. eds., 1999);
26. B. Simma/J. B. Aschenbrenner/C. Schulte, Human Rights Considerations in the Development Co-operation Activities of the EC, in THE EU AND HUMAN RIGHTS, 583 (Philip Alston et al. eds., 1999).
27. Article 177(2) Consolidated Version of the Treaty Establishing the European Community, in NIGEL FOSTER, BLACKSTONE’S EC LEGISLATION 1999-2000, 10th ed. (1999).
28. Treaty of Nice, signed on 26 February 2001, entered into force on 1 February 2003.
29. Case C-268/94, Portugal v. Council, 1996 ECR I-6699.
30. Case C-268/94, Portugal v. Council, 1996 ECR I-6699., paras. 24, 26.
31. Steve Peers has criticized the judgment of the Court in Portugal v. Council. In his view, “the Court’s finding that development policy must be subordinated to human rights has no support in treaty law.” See Steve Peers, Case C/268/94 Portugal v. Council, 35 COM. MARK. L. REV. 550 (1989).
32. Karin Arts, Development Co-operation and Human Rights: Turbulent Times for EU Policy, in NEW PERSPECTIVES ON EUROPEAN UNION DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION, 12 (M. Lister ed., 1999) [hereinafter Arts, Development Co-operation].
33. Peter Hilpold, EU development Cooperation at Crossroads: The Cotonou Agreement of 23 June 2000 and the Principle of Good Governance, 7 EUR. FOR. AFF. REV. 53, 60 (2001).
34. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 1(1).
35. Portugal v. Council (note 26), para. 27.
36. B. Brandtner/Allan Rosas, Human Rights and the External Relations of the European Community: An Analysis of the Doctrine and Practice, EUR. J. INT’L L. 474 (1998).
37. A. Rosas, Mixed Union-Mixed Agreements, in INTERNATIONAL LAW ASPECTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 145 (M. Koskenniemi ed., 1998).
38. Fierro (note 21), 281.
39. 24 Bull. EC. No. 11, 1991, item 1.3.67.
40. 24 Bull. EC No. 11, 1991, 122-123, para 6.
41. Commission, Communication on Democratisation, the Rule of Law, Respect for Human Rights, and Good Governance: The Challenges of the Partnership between the European Union and the ACP States, 146 COM 2 (1998).
42. See generally Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 96.
43. The ACP Countries are Equitorial Guinea, The Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, and Zaire.
44. ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS (note 13), 340.
45. Commission, Communication on the Opening of Consultations with Niger pursuant to Article 366a of the Lome Convention, 204 COM 3 (1999).
46. M. BULTERMAN, HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE TREATY RELATIONS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, 252-257 (2001).
47. DEC 2001/131/EC, OJ L 48, 17 February 2001.
48. 200 THE COURIER 32 (September-October 2003).
49. EU Council of Ministers, Press Release (25 June 2001).
50. Council Decision 148/2002, Concluding Consultations with Zimbabwe under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, OJ L 50, 21 February 2001; Council Regulation 313/2001 of 18 February 2003, Extending Regulation Concerning Restrictive Measures in respect of Zimbabwe, OJ L 50, 20 February 2003.
51. Council Decision 321/2005 of 14 April 2005, Concluding Consultations with the Republic of Guinea under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, OJ L 104, 23 April 2005.
52. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, The European Union’s Role in Promoting Human Rights and Democratisation in Third Countries, 252 COM 11, 22 (2001).
53. Membership is based upon Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 94, which provides that membership will be considered for any “independent State whose structural characteristics and economic situation are comparable to those of the ACP States.”
54. ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS (note 13), 303.
55. ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS (note 13), 302-303.
56. 196 THE COURIER 6 (January-February 2003).
57. For an analysis of the role of gender in the Cotonou Agreement see KARIN ARTS/WIDE, GENDER ASPECTS OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT (2001), 11-12, available at: http://www.igtn.org/Cotonou/WIDE %20Gender%20and%20Cotonou.pdf (last accessed 22 May 2005).
58. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 50(1).
59. Cotonou Agreement (note 1)., Article 50(2).
60. Cotonou Agreement (note 1)., Article 50(3).
61. Cotonou Agreement (note 1)., Article 2.
62. Article 131 of the Treaty of Rome.
63. Ambassador Mary Whelan of Ireland recently declared: “On behalf of the European Union, I wish to reiterate our commitment to the Right to Development, as set out in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action. It is also a commitment that is manifested in the development cooperation partnerships and agreements that we have with countries throughout the world.” See address delivered by Ambassador Mary Whelan, Ambassador of Ireland to the United Nations, on the Right to Development at the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on 23 March 2004. See also Karin Arts, Implementing the Right to Development? An Analysis of European Community Development and Human Rights Policies, in HUMAN RIGHTS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES YEARBOOK, 59 (P. Baehr ed., 1996).
64. CESCR General Comment 3 on the Nature of States Parties Obligations, 14 December 1990, para 14.
65. Goals 1 and 8 of the UN MDGs emphasises poverty eradication and the need to build a global partnership for development. The United Nations MDGs are available at: http://www.developmentgoals.org/ (last accessed 22 May 2005).
66. According to Tomasevski, “much as with other donors, the practice was punitive and arbitrary.” See K. TOMASEVSKI, BETWEEN SANCTIONS AND ELECTIONS: AID DONORS AND THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS PERFORMANCE, 48 (1997).
67. ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS (note 13), 370.
68. TOMASEVSKI (note 63), 10.
69. ARTS, INTEGRATING HUMAN RIGHTS (note 13); W. BROWN, THE EUROPEAN UNION AND AFRICA (2002), particularly chapter 4; and FIERRO (note 21).
70. CESCR General Comment 8, On the Relationship between Economic Sanctions and Respect for Economic Social and Cultural Rights, para 3.
71. See, for example, the EU sanctions against the Regime of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, which included travel ban on the President and members of his cabinet.
72. Arts, Development Co-operation (note 29), 18.
73. Council Reply to EP question 593/92, rendered 22 October 1992, EPCD Bull., 1992, 490.
74. E. U. Petersmann, Human Rights and the Law of the World Trade Organisation, 37(2) J. WORLD TRADE 241, 259 (2003), especially n. 62.
75. Council Decision of 14 April 2005, Concluding Consultations with the Republic of Guinea under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, OJ L104, 23 April 2005.
76. Trade Negotiation Insight, 6 (July 2004), available at: http://www.ictsd.org/tni/tni_english/ TNI_EN_3-4.pdf (last accessed 23 May 2005).
77. Francis AST Matambayla/Susanna Wolf, The Cotonou Agreement and the Challenges of Making the New EU-ACP Trade Regime WTO Compatible, 35(1) J. World Trade 123, 131 (2001).
78. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 34(4), which provides that: “Economic and Trade Cooperation shall be implemented in full conformity with the provisions of the WTO, including special and differential treatment, taking account of the Parties mutual interests and their respective levels of development.” See also A. Abass, The Cotonou Trade Regime and WTO Law, 10 EUR. L. J. 439, 462 (2004).
79. For an update on the state of negotiations see Trade Negotiation Insight, available at: http://www.acp-eu-trade.org/tni.html (last accessed 22 May 2005).
80. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 34(1).
81. 49 THE COURIER 3, 6-7 (May-June 1978).
82. TOMASEVSKI (note 63), 148.
83. B. Brandtner/A. Rosas, Trade Preferences and Human Rights, in THE EU AND HUMAN RIGHTS (Philip Alston et al. eds., 1999), 699 [hereinafter Brandtner/Rosas, Trade Preferences].
84. WTO Ministerial Conference, Singapore, 9-13 December 1996, Singapore Ministerial Declaration, para 4.
85. Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, adopted by the International Labour Conference on 18 June 1998, para 5.
86. On the legality of linking trade preferences to human rights see J. L. Stamberger, Developments: The Legality of Conditional Preferences to Developing Countries under the GATT Enabling Clause, 4 CHI. J. INT’L L. 607 (2003).
87. Council Regulation 2501/2001, Applying a Scheme of Generalised Tariff Preferences for the Period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2004, OJ L 346, 31 December 2001, Title III.
88. Council Regulation 2501/2001, Applying a Scheme of Generalised Tariff Preferences for the Period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2004, OJ L 346, 31 December 2001, Title III., Article 14.
89. Council Regulation 2501/2001, Applying a Scheme of Generalised Tariff Preferences for the Period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2004, OJ L 346, 31 December 2001, Title III., Article 15(1).
90. Proposal for EU scheme of Trade Preferences for 2006-2008, available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/ trade/issues/global/gsp/memo201004_en.htm (last accessed 22 May 2005).
91. Council Regulation 2501/2001 (note 84), Articles 27-30.
92. Notice of 16 January 1996; Council Regulation 552/97 of 24 March 1997, Temporarily Withdrawing Access to Generalised Tariff Preferences from the Union of Myanmar, OJ L 85, 27 March 1997, 8.
93. Council Regulation 552/97, id.
94. See generally Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 50.
95. European Union Negotiation Mandate for Economic Partnership Agreements, adopted 21 June 2002, available at: http://www.epawatch.net/documents/doc71_2.doc (last accessed 23 May 2005).
96. S. H. Cleveland, Human Rights Sanctions and International Trade: A Theory of Compatibility, 5 JIEL 133 (2002).
97. Brandtner/Rosas, Trade Preferences (note 80), 705.
98. S. Charnovitz, The Moral exception in Trade Policy, 38 VA. J. INT’L L. 689 (1998).
99. UN Document A/55/342, Globalisation and its Impact on the Full Enjoyment of all Human Rights: Preliminary Report of the Secretary General, 55th session of the General Assembly, 4.
100. See Report of the High Commissioner on the Impact of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Human Rights, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/13, June 2001; Report of the High Commissioner on Globalisation and its Impact on the Full Enjoyment of Human Rights, UN Doc E/CN.4/2002/54, 15 January 2002; Report of the High Commissioner on Liberalisation of Trade in Services and Human Rights, UN Doc E/CN.4/2002/9, 25 June 2002; and Report of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, Trade and Investment, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/9, 2 July 2003.
101. European Parliament Document, Trade and Development - Assisting Developing Countries to Benefit from Trade, A5-0277/2003 Final, 8, para 6.
102. United States - Restrictions on Imports of Tuna, 30 ILM 1594 (1991).
103. M. J. TREBILCOCK/R. HOWSE, THE REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE, 2d ed., 140 (2001).
104. Mauritius has argued that Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture (regarding the taking into account of “non-trade concerns”) should be read in conjunction with Article 11 of ICESCR recognising the right of everyone to adequate food. See WTO Document G/AG/NG/W/36/Rev.1 of 9 November 2000.
105. H. Lim, Trade and Human Rights What’s at Issue?, 35(2) J. World Trade 275, 284 (2001).
106. Report of the High Commissioner on Liberalisation of Trade in Services and Human Rights, UN Doc E/CN.4/2002/9, 25 June 2002, para 7.
107. See the WTO study by Nordstrom/Winters, Trade, Income Disparity and Poverty, in WTO SPECIAL STUDY NO. 5 (2000).
108. Cotonou Agreement (note 1), Article 9(2).
109. Cotonou Agreement (note 1)., Article 9(1).
110. Report of the High Commissioner on Liberalisation of Trade in Services and Human Rights, UN Doc E/CN.4/2002/9, 25 June 2002, 2 [hereinafter Report on Liberalisation of Trade].
111. As at 16 February 2005.
112. Report on Liberalisation of Trade (note 109).
113. Horng (note 12), 698.
114. J. Oloka-Onyango/D. Udagama, Working Paper on Human Rights as the Primary Objective of International Trade, Investment and Finance Policy and Practice, UN Doc E/CN.4/Sub.2/1999/11, 17 June 1999, para 3.