The European cooperation policy towards Africa: from Rome to Cotonou

The aim of this seminar is to present the EEC/EU cooperation policy with the African states from 1957 (year of the signature of the treaty of Rome) to 2000 (signature of the Cotonou agreement). Originally called association policy (because the African states, mainly the French and Belgian African colonies were associated to the EEC), the development policy evolved with the Lomé Convention, signed in 1975. I will present the main features of the first Lomé Convention, pointing out the role of the ACP (African, Caribbean, Pacific countries) and the importance of the international context. In the third part, I will examine the evolution of the Lomé Convention from 1975 to 1989, focusing on the reasons leading to the Cotonou agreement. In the last part, I will analyze the Cotonou agreement, discussing how the EU/African-states relations have evolved from 1957.