Part 6. Final provisions
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No treaty, convention, agreement or arrangement of any kind between one or more Member States of the Community and one or more ACP States may impede the implementation of this Agreement.
Subject to the special provisions regarding the relations between the ACP States and the French overseas departments provided for therein, this Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territories of the ACP States.
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This Agreement shall be ratified or approved by the signatory Parties in accordance with their respective constitutional rules and procedures.
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The instruments of ratification or approval of this Agreement shall be deposited in the case of the ACP States, with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and in the case of the Community and the Member States, with the General Secretariat of the ACP States. The Secretariats shall promptly notify the signatory States and the Community.
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This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date of deposit of the instruments of ratification of the Member States and of at least two thirds of the ACP States, and of the instrument of approval of this Agreement by the Community.
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An ACP signatory State that has not completed the procedures set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 by the date on which this Agreement enters into force as provided for in paragraph 3 may do so only within the 12 months following that date, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph 6.
For such States this Agreement shall become applicable on the first day of the second month following the completion of these procedures. These States shall recognise the validity of any measure taken to implement the Agreement after the date of its entry into force.
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The rules of procedure of the joint institutions set up under this Agreement shall lay down the conditions under which the representatives of signatory States referred to in paragraph 4 may attend those institutions as observers.
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The Council of Ministers may decide to accord special support to ACP States party to previous ACP-EC Conventions which, in the absence of normally established government institutions, have not been able to sign or ratify this Agreement. This support may concern institution building and economic and social development activities, taking particular account of the needs of the most vulnerable sections of the population. In this context, such countries will be able to draw on the funds provided for in Part 4 of this Agreement for financial and technical cooperation.
By way of derogation from paragraph 4, the countries concerned which are signatories to the Agreement may complete the ratification procedures within twelve months of the restoration of government institutions.
The countries concerned which have neither signed nor ratified the Agreement may accede to it by means of the accession procedure provided for in Article 94.
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Any request for accession to this Agreement made by an independent State whose structural characteristics and economic and social situation are comparable to those of the ACP States shall be presented to the Council of Ministers.
If the request is approved by the Council of Ministers, the State concerned shall accede to this Agreement by depositing an act of accession with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, which shall send a certified copy to the ACP Secretariat and notify the Member States. The Council of Ministers may lay down any amending measures that might be necessary.
The State concerned shall enjoy the same rights and be subject to the same obligations as the ACP States. Its accession may not infringe on the benefits enjoyed by the ACP States signatory to this Agreement under the provisions on development cooperation financing. The Council of Ministers may lay down the conditions and specific arrangements for the accession of an individual State in a special protocol that shall form an integral part of the Agreement.
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The Council of Ministers shall be advised of any request made by a third State to become a member of an economic grouping of ACP States.
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The Council of Ministers shall be advised of any request made by a third State to become a member of the European Union. During the negotiations between the Union and the applicant State, the Community shall provide the ACP States with any relevant information and they in turn shall convey their concerns to the Community so that it can take them fully into account. The ACP Secretariat shall be notified by the Community of any accession to the European Union.
Any new Member State of the European Union shall become a Party to this Agreement from the date of its accession by means of a clause to that effect in the act of accession. If the act of accession to the Union does not provide for such automatic accession of the Member State to this Agreement, the Member State concerned shall accede by depositing an act of accession with the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, which shall send a certified copy to the ACP Secretariat and notify the Member States.
The Parties shall review the effects of the accession of new Member States on this Agreement. The Council of Ministers may decide on any transitional or amending measures that might be necessary.
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This Agreement is hereby concluded for a period of twenty years, commencing on 1 March 2000.
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Financial protocols are defined for each five-year period.
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The Community and the Member States, on the one hand, and the ACP States, on the other, shall notify the other Party not later than 12 months before the expiry of each five-year period of any review of the provisions they desire to make with a view to a possible amendment of the Agreement. This shall not apply, however, to the provisions on economic and trade cooperation, for which a special review procedure is provided for. Notwithstanding this time limit, if one Party requests the review of any provisions of the Agreement, the other Party shall have a period of two months in which to request the extension of the review to other provisions related to those which were the subject of the initial request.
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Ten months before the expiry of this five year period, the Parties shall enter into negotiations with a view to examining any possible amendments to the provisions that were the subject of the notification.
Article 93 shall also apply to the amendments made.
The Council of Ministers shall adopt any transitional measures that may be required in respect of the amended provisions until they come into force.
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Eighteen months before the end of the total period of the Agreement, the Parties shall enter into negotiations in order to examine what provisions shall subsequently govern their relations.
The Council of Ministers shall adopt any transitional measures that may be required until the new Agreement comes into force.
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Within the meaning of this Article, the term "Party" refers to the Community and the Member States of the European Union, of the one part, and each ACP State, of the other part.
1a. Both Parties agree to exhaust all possible options for dialogue under Article 8, except in cases of special urgency, prior to commencement of the consultations referred to in paragraph 2(a) of this Article.
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If, despite the political dialogue on the essential elements as provided for under Article 8 and paragraph 1a of this Article, a Party considers that the other Party fails to fulfil an obligation stemming from respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law referred to in Article 9(2), it shall, except in cases of special urgency, supply the other Party and the Council of Ministers with the relevant information required for a thorough examination of the situation with a view to seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties. To this end, it shall invite the other Party to hold consultations that focus on the measures taken or to be taken by the Party concerned to remedy the situation in accordance with Annexe VII.
The consultations shall be conducted at the level and in the form considered most appropriate for finding a solution.
The consultations shall begin no later than 30 days after the invitation and shall continue for a period established by mutual agreement, depending on the nature and gravity of the violation. In no case shall the dialogue under the consultations procedure last longer than 120 days.
If the consultations do not lead to a solution acceptable to both Parties, if consultation is refused or in cases of special urgency, appropriate measures may be taken. These measures shall be revoked as soon as the reasons for taking them no longer prevail.
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The term "cases of special urgency" shall refer to exceptional cases of particularly serious and flagrant violation of one of the essential elements referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 9, that require an immediate reaction.
The Party resorting to the special urgency procedure shall inform the other Party and the Council of Ministers separately of the fact unless it does not have time to do so.
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The "appropriate measures" referred to in this Article are measures taken in accordance with international law, and proportional to the violation. In the selection of these measures, priority must be given to those which least disrupt the application of this agreement.
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It is understood that suspension would be a measure of last resort.
If measures are taken in cases of special urgency, they shall be immediately notified to the other Party and the Council of Ministers. At the request of the Party concerned, consultations may then be called in order to examine the situation thoroughly and, if possible, find solutions. These consultations shall be conducted according to the arrangements set out in the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph (a).
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The Parties consider that when the Community is a significant partner in terms of financial support to economic and sectoral policies and programmes, serious cases of corruption should give rise to consultations between the Parties.
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In such cases either Party may invite the other to enter into consultations. Such consultations shall begin no later than 30 days after the invitation and dialogue under the consultation procedure shall last no longer than 120 days.
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If the consultations do not lead to a solution acceptable to both Parties or if consultation is refused, the Parties shall take the appropriate measures. In all cases, it is above all incumbent on the Party where the serious cases of corruption have occurred to take the measures necessary to remedy the situation immediately. The measures taken by either Party must be proportional to the seriousness of the situation. In the selection of these measures, priority must be given to those which least disrupt the application of this agreement. It is understood that suspension would be a measure of last resort.
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Within the meaning of this Article, the term "Party" refers to the Community and the Member States of the European Union, of the one part, and each ACP State, of the other part.
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Any dispute arising from the interpretation or application of this Agreement between one or more Member States or the Community, on the one hand, and one or more ACP States on the other, shall be submitted to the Council of Ministers.
Between meetings of the Council of Ministers, such disputes shall be submitted to the Committee of Ambassadors.
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If the Council of Ministers does not succeed in settling the dispute, either Party may request settlement of the dispute by arbitration. To this end, each Party shall appoint an arbitrator within thirty days of the request for arbitration. In the event of failure to do so, either Party may ask the Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to appoint the second arbitrator.
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The two arbitrators shall in turn appoint a third arbitrator within thirty days. In the event of failure to do so, either Party may ask the Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to appoint the third arbitrator.
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Unless the arbitrators decide otherwise, the procedure applied shall be that laid down in the optional arbitration regulation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration for International Organisations and States. The arbitrators' decisions shall be taken by majority vote within three months.
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Each Party to the dispute shall be bound to take the measures necessary to carry out the decision of the arbitrators.
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For the application of this procedure, the Community and the Member States shall be deemed to be one Party to the dispute.
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This Agreement may be denounced by the Community and its Member States in respect of each ACP State and by each ACP State in respect of the Community and its Member States, upon six months' notice.
The Protocols and Annexes attached to this Agreement shall form an integral part thereof. Annexes Ia, Ib, II, III, IV and VI may be revised, reviewed and/or amended by the Council of Ministers on the basis of a recommendation from the ACP-EC Development Finance Cooperation Committee.
This Agreement, drawn up in two copies in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish languages, all texts being equally authentic, shall be deposited in the archives of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and the Secretariat of the ACP States, which shall both transmit a certified copy to the government of each of the Signatory States.
