EU Commission: Regional integration for development in ACP countries
The European Commission issued a Communication to the Council, the European parliament, the European economic and social committee and the Committee of the regions about the process of regional integration for development in ACP countries. The proposed approach to EU support to regional integration for Acp development is to focus on the basis of each regions' strategic development plan and a dialogue resulting in the joint assessment of challenges, and should be focused as appropriate on regional specificities and needs.
The EU should support:
– Regional governance and cooperation for peace and stability, between states as well as within states, including the promotion of human rights.
– The improvement of institutional capacities at regional and national level, with renewed efforts to strengthen the national capacities to implement regional policies.
– The simplification of the institutional architecture and integration agendas.
– Stronger ownership of regional integration processes, with broader diversity of stakeholders at both national and regional levels.
To build regional integrated markets the EU – according to the EC ‐ should continue to support regions in this area, including:
– The effective implementation of regional commitments in trade in goods, including the modernisation of customs systems and the collection of public revenue.
– The integration of the services sector and investment with the objective of enhancing competition on the regional markets, lowering the excessive costs of services and establishing more transparent and stable regional investment rules.
– Technical barriers to trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS): standardisation and harmonisation with international standards remove the need for burdensome controls, improves food safety on a regional level and facilitates access of regionally‐produced goods to international markets.
– Monetary integration: Several ambitious agendas for regional monetary unions in ACP need to take into account that the progress between monetary and economic integration should be closely linked. The EU is ready to share its own experience of integration and policy coordination with ACP partners. The issue of macro‐economic coordination will receive more attention in the context of the dialogue on EC general budget support at national level.
The EU, according to the EC, should assist efforts by the regions to manage common challenges where the regional added value is greatest for the sustainable livelihood of populations. Depending on the region, this may cover:
– Food security and agricultural production: harmonisation of policies and standards, regional information systems allowing better‐functioning of regional markets for food and agricultural inputs, management of regional food stocks, and policies against land degradation and desertification can help improve food security.
– The common management of natural resources: trans‐boundary environmental problems can only be tackled through comprehensive and effective regional policies. The EC will, in particular, support the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss as well as the sustainable management of fisheries, forests, energy resources and water basins.
– Social cohesion at regional level: national and regional redistributive policies are important for the costs and benefits of regional integration to be evenly distributed across and within countries.
The above will also be supported by developing science and technology capacities to enhance science's contribution to tackling shared problems and to fostering growth and reducing poverty.
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