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The Cotonou Agreement A Successful Means for Good Governance

Promotion?

Bachelor’s Thesis 2011

Author: Lisa Plønd Gundsø BA French & European Studies Supervisor: Amin Alavi Characters, Abstract: 2806 Characters, Thesis: 54711

The Cotonou Agreement A Successful Means for Good Governance Promotion?


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Abstract This thesis provides for an examination of the promotion of good governance through the

framework of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou, Benin in 2000. The

purpose of the examination is to establish whether the Cotonou Agreement provides a

successful means for good governance promotion in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)

countries. The overall examination sets around the jointly agreed provisions and the joint

cooperation of the ACP-EU relationship as formalized in the Cotonou Agreement. The

examination however primarily relies on the definition of good governance as expressed in

official European Union discourse.

The theoretical approach that has been chosen to frame the examination is based on a

conceptualization of the notions of contemporary development; good versus bad governance

in an overall view as well as according to official European Union discourse; and the

provisions of the Cotonou Agreement. This theoretical path has been chosen in order to create

a substantial framework, which sketches the essential features that affect good governance

and the thereof diverted good governance promotion.

Contemporary development discourse sets in an environment where it has been realized that

not only economic but also political, social and environmental factors affect the success of

development. This means that aspects such as poverty alleviation, human rights, the

enforcement of the rule of law, environmental sustainability and good governance

continuously have grown in importance and today are perceived as crucial elements in order

to achieve sustainable development. The thesis establishes how good governance is not to be

limited to the sheer notion of government, but that good governance aside from the political

entities is affected by the influence of non-state actors, civil society in general, the cultural

codes and the economic environment. In European Union discourse, good governance

moreover entails five principles that need to be fulfilled in order for good governance to be

successful. These principles are openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and

coherence.

Following the outlining of the overall structure of the Cotonou Agreement, where emphasis is

put on the parts of the Agreement that fall into the good governance discourse that the thesis



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adopts, an analysis shows how good governance promotion is operationalized in the

Agreement. This is done on the foundations that the five principles of the European Union

form.

Based on this analysis it is discovered that the political dialogue, which is identified in

various aspects of the Cotonou Agreement, is the feature that upholds that all the five criteria

for good governance are conducted in the process of realizing the objectives of the

Agreement. This leads to the conclusion that good governance promotion in the framework of

the Cotonou Agreement takes the shape of two characters: the promotion of good governance

as a development objective in its own right, and the promotion of good governance through

the conduct of good governance in ACP-EU cooperation. These two characters together

provide for the overall conclusion that in the theoretical scope of this thesis, the Cotonou

Agreement is a successful means for the promotion of good governance.

Characters, abstract: 2806

Characters, thesis: 54711



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Table of Content ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................2 TABLE OF CONTENT ...........................................................................................................4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................5 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................6

1.1. PROBLEM STATEMENT ....................................................................................................9 1.2. SCOPE OF THE THESIS......................................................................................................9 1.3. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ...........................................................................................10

2. METHOD............................................................................................................................11 2.1. SOURCE EVALUATION ...................................................................................................12 2.2. THEORY .........................................................................................................................12

2.2.1. Conceptualizing Development Discourse..............................................................12 2.2.2. EU Development Cooperation at a Glance ...........................................................13 2.2.3. Conceptualizing Good Governance.......................................................................15 2.2.4. Conceptualizing Bad Governance .........................................................................17 2.2.5. How Good Governance Appears in EU Discourse ...............................................18

2.3. EMPIRICAL SCOPE .........................................................................................................21 2.3.1. Origins of the Cotonou Agreement ........................................................................21 2.3.2. Framing the Overall Structure of the Cotonou Agreement ...................................22

3. ANALYSIS..........................................................................................................................23 3.1. IDENTIFYING SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE IN THE COTONOU AGREEMENT .........................................................................................................................23 3.2. HOW DIALOGUE BECOMES A KEYWORD WITHIN GOOD GOVERNANCE DISCOURSE OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT.................................................................................................26 3.3. CONCLUDING REMARKS ON HOW GOOD GOVERNANCE APPEARS WITH A DUAL CONNOTATION IN THE ACP-EU FRAMEWORK ....................................................................28

4. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................30 5. PUTTING THE THESIS INTO PERSPECTIVE...........................................................31 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................32

6.1. WEBSITES ......................................................................................................................32 6.2. LITERATURE ..................................................................................................................32



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List of Abbreviations

ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific countries

DAC Development Assistance Committee

EC European Community

EDF European Development Fund

EEC European Economic Community

EIB European Investment Bank

EPA Economic Partnership Agreement

EU European Union

LCLIC Least Developed, Landlocked, and Island ACP States

LDC Least Developed Country

MDG Millennium Development Goal

ODA Official Development Assistance

OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

UN United Nations

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

WTO World Trade Organization



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1. Introduction Development assistance and democratic reforms are at the heart of European Union (EU)

external action, and the Union has thus for several years played a proactive role in

development cooperation.

The European Union ascribes great value to its role as a development-friendly actor, who,

among various aspects, promotes good governance in order to achieve sustainable

development. The EU’s positive self-image is enlightened in the European Consensus on

Development depicting the EU’s self-esteem within the development context: “(…) The EU is

an important force for positive change.” (European Commission 2006a:1) as well as in the

Memorandum on the Community’s development policy of 1982:

“Development policy is a cornerstone of European integration (…) today it is a manifestation

of Europe’s identity in the world at large and a major plank in the Community’s external

policies generally.”

(European Commission 1982:8)

The development strategies in the European context have constantly developed since the

signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, which also comprises the birth of the European

Development Fund (EDF). The various initiatives towards creating viable development

assistance saw the pace through a number of agreements between the European Union and the

group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries from the beginning of the 1960s to

present day. It was not until the final decade of the 20th century that a new way of thinking

came to characterize international development strategies, when Western development actors,

due to preceding development agendas’ lack of results, acknowledged that development goals

could not be measured in mere economic terms. It was realized by various donors that

progress within the field of development would also be dependent on civil society and

political reforms, and thus, slowly, the state as well as the institutional setting were thought of

as necessary conditions for development, and not, as previously, as hindrances to it (Smith

2007:3).

In this way, good governance arose to be one of the most important features - not merely in

EU development discourse - but in the framework of furthering sustainable development of

all international actors.



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Contemporary European Union development promotion has two instruments at its disposal:

The European Development Fund acting as the financial instrument, and the ACP-EU

Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou in 2000 setting the framework for negotiations on

trade, development assistance and political partnership with the EU (Commonwealth

Secretariat 2004:xiii).

The focus on development matters within the European Union is related to specific external

policy strategies, and specifically the relationship with the ACP countries is of great

importance to the Union. This is seen in the many agreements and conventions that have

evolved over time for today to assume the dimensions of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement

signed in Cotonou, Benin in 2000. This agreement has become the most substantial

framework of the relations between the EU and the 79 members of the ACP Group, and the

most current revision in 2005 prepared the grounds for the 2007-2013 financial framework of

development assistance (The European Commission & the ACP Group of States 2009:2).

So, as mentioned above, the scope of development discourse and the thereof carried strategies

have changed over time. When suggesting development assistance, it is no longer a general

perception that stimulation of sheer economic factors is enough to further development in

ACP countries. The introduction of social and political factors to the development discourse

have altered the approach of donors and brought with it the question of whether development

promotion should be undergone through coercion or cooperation, and also good governance

has previously been seen as a political conditionality forced on aid-dependent states.

However, through the Partnership Agreement, the European Union emphasizes dialogue over

coercion, and the entire scope of the Cotonou Agreement is that the objectives and measures

therein should be jointly agreed and individually adapted to the needs and capabilities of each

partner country.

Based on the above reflections, an analysis of the character of good governance promotion as

one of the objects of the EU’s development assistance as specified in the ACP-EU Cotonou

Agreement becomes relevant since this agreement covers the frame of development and

political cooperation as well as it defines the measures for EU-ACP trade relations. The

importance of the Cotonou Agreement lies in its role as the overarching basis of the ACP-EU

relationship as well as it sets the foundation of the negotiations of the future ACP-EU trade

relations with the new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).

All in all, this thesis will evolve around the promotion of good governance through the

EU’s development strategies towards the ACP countries, and focus will hence be put on the

two development instruments that the EU holds at its disposal; the EDF and the Cotonou



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Agreement. The primary point of interest within this scope will, as earlier mentioned, be good

governance promotion, how it is formalized in the Cotonou Agreement, how the quality of

good governance hereafter is measured, and finally what happens when the results do or do

not reflect the intentions.

A final introductory note lies on a formal aspect of the thesis:

The primary reference to European cooperation in this thesis will be “the European Union”,

“The Union” or “the EU”. Other titles and abbreviations defining former constructions of the

European Union will be used if deemed strictly necessary for the overall comprehension. In

the same sense, the name of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement will also be referred to as

the Cotonou Agreement, The Partnership Agreement or the Cotonou Partnership Agreement.

Moreover, the usage of “the European Union” (or its abbreviation) in the subjective sense

is used to indicate the EU as political institution as well as referring to a given stance or a

jointly agreed decision reflecting the European Union’s official attitude or policies within a

given field. Exemplified, “The EU states that (…)” thus refers to a statement officially

communicated to the public as the jointly agreed position of the European Union.



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1.1. Problem Statement Based on the above introduction, the following problem statement has been developed to

constitute the focal point of this bachelor’s thesis:

To what extent does the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement constitute a successful means to

promote good governance?

The problem will, as mentioned above, be elaborated through the frame of reference of the

ACP-EU relationship as it is formalized in the Cotonou Agreement, which defines the

political, economic and financial aspects of the partnership.

In order to respond to the problem statement, some sub questions will implicitly guide the

underlying substance of the theoretical scope as well as the analysis that together lead to the

final answer to the problem statement. These questions are the following:

• What does good governance imply?

• What criteria define the degree of good governance success or failure in EU

discourse?

• How is good governance promotion operationalized through the Cotonou

Agreement?

1.2. Scope of the Thesis

The relevance of issues regarding development assistance and -cooperation seems rather

obvious given the focus that the entire international society attributes to these subjects. Good

governance is a factor that has been deemed crucial in order to fulfill the development

strategies since the 1990s, not only on the European but also on the international scene as a

whole. It is the underlying perception of this thesis that good governance is an indispensable

feature in order to raise the level of sustainable development and economic growth in a

developing country. Contemporary development discourse most often links sustainable

development to the features of poverty alleviation, human rights and economic growth but

this thesis will direct its focus to sustainable development as an end in itself with good

governance as a notion born within development discourse and influencing on the shape and

conditions of development. Poverty alleviation and human rights will be briefly introduced

according to their relations to development discourse; however, they will not be thoroughly

elaborated in the thesis.



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1.3. Structure of the Thesis

Conclusion

To what extent does the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement constitute a successful means

to promote good governance?

Putting the Thesis into Perspective

• What are the consequences when the degree of good governance is deemed a success

or a failure in a given country?

• What are the effects if a given developing country formally obtains a better position

when not raising its level of development?

Part Two • How does good governance appear in the Cotonou Agreement?

• How does the appearance of good governance in the Cotonou Agreement comply

with the criteria defining its successful existence?

Part One

• In what sense does good governance appear as part of contemporary development

discourse?

• What criteria conceptualize good governance?

• What defines the success or failure of good governance?

Introduction

• The European Union promotes good governance through the Cotonou Partnership

Agreement as a means to achieve sustainable development

• EU’s development aid comprises two instruments; a financial instrument, the EDF,

and the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement defining the framework for trade, political

cooperation and development assistance.



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Part One - Method, Theory, and Empirical Data

Throughout the first part of this thesis, the methodological approach as well as the theoretical

and empirical context will be elaborated. The methodological approach specifies the scientific

technique that lies beneath the examination of the problem statement. Secondly, the

theoretical basis will be outlined, which frames the discourse in which this thesis sets. This

includes a conceptualization of development, good governance and the way the European

Union regards and deals with these notions. Finally, the empirical path will be taken through

an overview of the formal structure of the Cotonou Agreement initiated by a brief historical

view of the origins leading to the elaboration and signing of the Agreement.

Part Two - Analysis

The second part of the thesis is dedicated to the analytical work building on the theoretical

and empirical knowledge acquired in the first part. Here the notions of good governance as

promoted through the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the mechanisms for operationalizing

good governance, and the success or failure of this promotion will be analyzed.

Part Three - Conclusion and Perspective

This final part will discuss the results of the analysis as well as present the overall conclusion.

Lastly, the thesis will be rounded off with final remarks putting the totality into perspective.

2. Method The scientific technique applied in order to provide an answer to the problem statement of

this thesis comprises a hermeneutic approach, which will be the implicit approach to analyze

the empirical material. The hermeneutic approach builds on the interpretation and subsequent

understanding of given social phenomena and actions. More specifically, the hermeneutics

value the specific methods applied in order for the interpreter to arrive at a profound

understanding of both the examined object as well as the cultural surroundings affecting the

creator of the object (Langergaard, Rasmussen & Sørensen 2006:129). This means that focus

does not only lie on the specific meaning of the examined object but also on the interpretation

of the producer of the examined object and his underlying intentions (Højberg 2007:313).

The hermeneutics emphasize the fact that interpretation is subjective and that it therefore is

impossible to lay down causal explanations and create natural laws that account for a given

object, since the interpreter of this object will always regard it and interpret it subjectively

(Langergaard, Rasmussen & Sørensen 2006:126).



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2.1. Source Evaluation The work of this thesis evolves around the content of the Cotonou Agreement, since this

agreement serves as the current and most substantial framework binding the conditions and

structures of the EU’s partnership and trade agreements with the ACP group. The use of the

Cotonou Agreement as the empirical basis is surrounded by a theoretical frame, which

primarily is constituted by the European Union’s official documents such as communications,

a White Paper, a memorandum, and other valuable reports. These documents have been

chosen in order to clarify the European Union’s officially stated positions and the accurate

elaborations on development and governance matters. Work of other international

organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme have

also been used to depict the positions of influential international actors. Various additional

theory has been used to clarify the external view, commentaries and analyses upon EU

attitudes and historical aspects that are presented in the thesis.

2.2. Theory The theoretical frame will below construct the concept of contemporary development

discourse followed by a clarification of the scope of European Union development

cooperation. This will be followed by a definition of the meaning of good governance as well

as an overview of the way the European Union relates to and promotes good governance in

the ACP countries.

2.2.1. Conceptualizing Development Discourse

This thesis supposes that contemporary development discourse sets in a framework, which

holds that economic growth is an essential part of the process of achieving sustainable

development. This means that the economic setting is constituted by a system stimulating the

most profitable growth, which includes the principles of market economy, transparent

competition rules, and sound economic and social policies.

Contrary to this view are the early theories of economic development that enforced the role

of the state as the main driver of economic and social development. In accordance with

former economic policy it then was believed that state intervention was an unquestionable

criteria for the qualitative and quantitative sufficiency of goods (Smith 2007:250). Since

then, a more liberal attitude in economics has replaced the strictly state-led development by

initiatives leading to free markets, private ownership, and international competition.

Therefore, one may conclude that present day development call for conditions of capitalism

(Smith 2007:249).

Prior to the changing scope of economic thinking in development matters, the notion of

development was understood as a somewhat unproblematic process of transition from



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“traditional” society to “modernity”. In this way, development transition was perceived as a

linear process, where economic progress in developing countries was meant to occur in the

same way as it had already done in the industrialized countries (Abrahamsen 2000:26).

Today, the understanding of development action is linked to several various attributes such

as poverty alleviation, human rights, good governance and economic growth.

These concepts have risen in importance within development cooperation since the adoption

of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, which specify an international

framework for a more structured collective effort to reduce said poverty, the broadening

scope of human and social development, and the strive for a coordinated commitment towards

the achievement of the eight established Development Goals (UNDP 2010:1). The EU has, as

most development actors, set an honor in weaving these goals into its own development

policies, and with the various areas that these MDGs touch upon, one may regard

development cooperation, poverty alleviation, good governance promotion and the respect for

human rights as a circle of factors that all influence on each other, and that these factors all

are crucial in order to achieve sustainable development. In sum, this can thus be characterized

as sustainable development being the overall goal of development cooperation followed by

the fact that sustainable development holds poverty alleviation at its most essential objective.

The respect for human rights and good governance promotion are among the most significant

criteria that influence on the attainment of sustainable development, and in this way, an

illustration of the interlinkedness of these factors has been established. The European

Consensus on Development clarifies the connection between these concepts in this brief

manner:

“We reaffirm that development is a central goal by itself; and that sustainable development

includes good governance, human rights and political, economic, social and environmental

aspects” (European Commission 2006a:2).

So, as mentioned earlier, sustainable development requires for several social, political and

economic measures to be successfully implemented, however, this thesis focuses on the good

governance aspect as a vital means on the path to achieve sustainable development.

2.2.2. EU Development Cooperation at a Glance

As mentioned, EU development strategies have evolved with growing speed since the

beginning of the 1990s. The joint historical links between Europe and Africa have

continuously affected the development of international society as well as the scope of EU

development cooperation.



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In EU discourse, development cooperation finds a base in the promotion of European

democratic values, which also becomes clear in the European Consensus on Development,

where the EU brings the promotion of a development best practice into play. The term “best

practice” reflects the Union’s mission to export its own core values to the developing

countries. The Consensus on Development explains this by stating that

“(…) The Community will promote democracy, human rights, good governance and respect

for international law [since] the Commission’s experience on democracy promotion, human

rights and nation-building is positive and will be further developed”

(European Commission 2006a:9).

EU Development cooperation is today a shared competence between the Community and the

Member States, which makes the EU with its members the largest donor of development

assistance according to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) statistics measured by

the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD. In 2009, almost 30 % of total

ODA disbursements stemmed directly from the EU institutions (DAC 2011:6). The region of

African countries benefitted from almost 38 % of total net ODA in 2009 (DAC 2011:3).

Within the scope of development cooperation, the Union has various funds and financial

instruments at its disposal, but within the partnership with the ACP countries, the primary

financial instrument is the European Development Fund (EDF). The EDF was established

with the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, and was created as an apparatus fuelled by

national funding, and does therefore not figure as part of the Community budget. The EDF is

shaped by multi-annual frameworks, most often of five years, which are individually adapted

in strategy papers jointly assented between the EU and the partner country. The current 10th

EDF covers the period from 2008 to 2013, and is subject to the provisions of the ACP-EU

Partnership Agreement (ACP-EC Joint Council of Ministers 2006:22). The specific financing

methods for a given project or action programme is, as stated in the title of Financial

Cooperation in the Cotonou Agreement, to be determined jointly by the ACP state and the EU

according to factors such as the country’s level of development, its needs, and the economic

condition of the country other criteria (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:37). Another

instrument integrated in the Cotonou Agreement is the Investment Facility, which combines

grant financed funds allocated to the Investment Facility from the EU member states

additional to funding from the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) own resources

(Commonwealth Secretariat 2004:46). The aim is for the funding from the Investment

Facility to have a catalytic effect on local and foreign private investment, which is perceived



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most likely in the ACP countries that have undergone the most advanced economic reforms

and development (Commonwealth Secretariat 2004:47).

Development assistance is hence provided through various channels such as project aid,

sector programme support, humanitarian aid, approximation of norms, standards and

legislation etc. (European Commission 2006a:5), and as mentioned are these channels applied

according to the specific needs and priorities of the individual developing country. This is

part of the differentiation strategy, which is also a distinctive quality of the Cotonou

framework, where development strategies are deemed to be “tailor-made” according to the

individual countries’ specific needs, priorities and means available of implementing

development measures in order to further sustainable development at all levels.

2.2.3. Conceptualizing Good Governance

Good governance first appeared on the development agenda in the beginning of the 1990s

both due to the lack of satisfying results of the preceding years’ development strategies as

well as to the alterations that took place on the international political scene during the end of

the 1980s. The fall of communism changed the scope of European political focus, and human

rights as well as democratization processes in the Eastern European countries and ex-Soviet

states became vital political topics at both the international level and internally in the nation

states. This had an effect on the development strategies of the European Union towards the

Eastern European countries as well as towards the ACP Group, and good governance

suddenly became common property of all development discourse. In this way, good

governance arose to be regarded as the very remedy for the malaise of especially African

development strategies that had been conducted prior to the 1990s (Abrahamsen 2000:25).

Today, various ideas about the meaning and composition of good governance exist, which

partly is due to the immense amount of literature on the subject that reflects various

perceptions of the importance of the role of the state as well as attributing different meanings

to good governance and development assistance. This consequently proves that in order to

understand the meaning of good governance, one must initially conceptualize the meaning of

governance itself.

According to Smith (2007:5), governance in developing discourse refers to the combination

of ideas of political authority, the management of economic and social resources, and the

capacity of governments to formulate sound policies and moreover perform their functions

effectively, efficiently, and equitably. He moreover states that governance in this context

must not be limited to the sheer notion of government but that it also covers the broad palette



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of issues regarding public policies, institutions, economic relationships or a role for the non-

governmental sector in the business of the state (Smith 2007:3). It is therefore deemed that all

the different levels of governance (local, national, international) are crucial, and as specified

by the United Nations Development Programme, “governance encompasses every institution

and organization in society from the family to the state” (UNDP 1997:9).

In the Communication on Governance and Development, the Union equally defines how

governance is an operative concept that refers to the very basic aspects of the functioning of

any society and political or social systems (European Commission 2003b:3). This means that

healthy governance is deemed to limit the gap that has arisen between rich and poor in

developing countries due to shattered governmental structures, which again entitles to good

governance the notion of a basic measure of quality and performance of any political or

administrative system (European Commission 2003b:4). However, governance should not be

limited to entail the mere organizational features or institutional setting of any system or

simply connote the right way for authority actors to exercise power. This view is too narrow

and focuses on attributes of sheer “technical” quality. Governance is in great part also

influenced by the surrounding conduct and behavior of non-state actors and civil society, the

social perceptions of the role of the state as well as the practices within corporate governance,

which for example stimulates stability within the financial market and ensures a growth in

economy and investment. The participation of non-state actors in development cooperation,

and thereby in good governance promotion as well, is highly emphasized by the European

Commission (hereafter: “the Commission”) in relation to the provisions of the Cotonou

Agreement. The inclusion of non-state actors in the political dialogue processes at ACP-EU

level has been vital in the attempt to mobilize all available capacities and resources in, for

example, the fight against poverty (Commonwealth Secretariat 2004:96). The ensuring of a

broad participation is crucial to the achievement of the objectives of ACP-EU cooperation,

where good governance in this context represents an objective of specifically essential kind.

Governance is thus a variety of aspects onto which it is difficult to attribute a universal

meaning. Good governance may be characterized as “just another way of describing liberal

democracy” (Smith 2007:272) because of its normative core imposing political rights, the

rule of law, accountability and state capacity in connection to good governance and

democracy, however, the support for civil society and the processes affecting the role of the

governmental actors need to be emphasized in order to achieve participation and legitimacy,

which are among the features deemed crucial to the democratic way of governing and to the

EU’s definition of good governance (this definition will be elaborated below).



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All in all, governance is thus not only the very act of governing, it is the entire system in

which rulemaking and leadership takes place, and therefore cultural, social and economic

aspects are part of and affect this system. The White Paper on European Governance notes

that governance means “rules, processes and behaviour that affect the way in which powers

are exercised at the European level” (European Commission 2001:8), and so with that in

mind, this thesis generally centers on the good governance conception that deals with the

state’s overall condition, its ability to serve its citizens and the way that state governance

enables reform making, but it sees these features of good governance as entailing the overall

cultural environment, civil society and the influence of non-state actors when claiming that

good governance is a key feature to policy and reform making for poverty reduction,

democratization and global security.

2.2.4. Conceptualizing Bad Governance

The characterization of what constitutes sound governance evidently allows for a distinction

of its diametrical opponent, bad governance, which has the outcomes of corruption,

administrative incompetence and a lack of political transparency and accountability to the

system. Bad governance had for long been identified in aid recipient countries, which finally

in the 1990s forced the donor countries to acknowledge that mere economic reforms were

unable to take root and lead to development and economic growth as intended. It was realized

that more attention directed to the political and institutional settings in the given recipient

state was crucial. Ever since this acknowledgement, the European Union, as several other

international actors, has written itself into the discourse where bad governance is seen as a

primary obstacle for the furthering of development. In the European Consensus on

Development, the Union proclaims that

“A large number of the world’s poor live in these [low-income] countries and many are

confronted with striking inequalities and weak governance, which threaten the sustainability

of their own development process”

(European Commission 2006a:10)

This discursive path is continued in the Communication on Governance and Development

where the Union declares that “the structures and the quality of governance are critical

determinants of (…) the success or failure of economic development (…)” (European

Commission 2003b:3). In this way, the Union claims that good governance is the key to the

effectiveness of development assistance, and over the recent years it has become a general



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perception that good governance is a very important catalyst for aid effectiveness as well as to

the realization of the sustainable development objective.

2.2.5. How Good Governance Appears in EU Discourse

In order to fully understand the implications that good governance entails within development

cooperation, a clarification of what constitutes the success or failure within the framework of

good governance promotion needs to be illustrated. This will be done according to the

principles that underpin good governance as defined by the European Union.

As previously mentioned, poverty and development are intertwined features, and likewise are

the concepts of good governance, democracy, and human rights. Smith (2007:4) creates a link

between these features in his description of good governance implying government that is

democratically organized within a democratic political culture and with efficient

administrative organizations. He moreover links the results of good governance to human

rights by arguing that the lack of political accountability surely will put human rights as well

as economic and social development at risk (Smith 2007:19-21). The European Union’s

definition of the principles of good governance accentuates the liaison between sound

governance and democracy. The White Paper on European Governance presents five

principles that symbolize the EU’s definition of the criteria for good governance, and

moreover, the principles are seen as crucial to boosting the evolvement of democratic

governance (European Commission 2001:10). The EU’s perception of successful good

governance so requires institutional openness, participation through the policy chain,

political accountability, policy effectiveness and coherence in policies and action, and hence

these principles deal with the institutional, executive and legislative bonds that interweave

principles of political structure as well as civilian participation and trust. It is in this context

that the EU links governance, democratization and development on equal grounds (European

Commission 2003b:3).

The aim of the White Paper is the clarification of these principles as they should first and

foremost be conducted internally in the EU but they simultaneously come to represent the

conduct of good governance that the EU tries to enhance externally: “The Union’s first step

must be to reform governance successfully at home in order to enhance the case for change at

an international level” (European Commission 2001:26). Held together with this statement,

the overall theme of this thesis is encircled in the note that “The Union should seek to apply

the principles of good governance to its global responsibilities” (European Commission

2001:5).



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So, as previously mentioned, the EU promotes good governance in the name of European

democratic values, and thus the principles underpinning the good governance vision of the

Union obviously follow these ideals. The principles that the European Union deems crucial to

good governance are elaborated below with comments on how these aspects may be

identified in the operational methods of the EU’s good governance promotion in the ACP

countries:

Openness

Institutional openness is required for good governance to be successful, since it is critical to

ensure both political accountability as well as transparency and trust from the public towards

the institutions and the decision makers. Institutional openness will be obtained through better

communicative measures that present to the outside world what initiatives and what decisions

have been elaborated by the political institutions and their representatives as well as the

aspects that constitute the substance of the overall political or administrative agenda.

Moreover, openness encourages a higher degree of participation since the political and

institutional settings become more transparent and will thus enable a political proximity and

inspire the public to feel safe and comfortable with the political and administrative matters

that affect their living standards. Obviously, openness is connected to accountability, which

again opposes the occurrence of corruption and may limit administrative incompetence.

Participation

Participation is naturally attached to institutional openness, since broad participation reflects

confidence in the policies and the political system as a whole as well as it strengthens political

accountability. The degree of participation will be enhanced by the transparency of the

political system, and improved participation will augment the degree of democratic

governance. Within development matters, the level of participation implies all stakeholders in

countries’ development (European Commission 2006a:4), and besides the political actors this

includes civil society, economic and social actors, NGOs and other actors that may play a

vital role as promoters of democracy. The degree of participation also enables identification

of a country’s needs, which again helps the elaboration of action programmes and reform

strategies. As previously illustrated, various political, social, economic actors’ participation

influences the overall condition of good governance.



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Accountability

Political accountability is a natural given element of the conduct of good governance as well

as an ethical standard within European democracy. Both the specific roles in the legislative

and executive processes need to be clearly visible (European Commission 2001:10), but also

the personal responsibility of the political actors as well as the institutional responsibility

linked to transparency is essential. Within development matters of the EU-ACP relationship

accountability in all aspects is necessary since accountability gives rise to mutual respect and

responsiveness, which is crucial when the two actors are to jointly adopt development

strategies and reform measures that are only to be implemented in the developing country.

Effectiveness

Effectiveness seems self-evident within all aspects of governance structures, and the White

Paper on European Governance states that “policies must be effective and timely, delivering

what is needed on the basis of clear objectives” (European Commission 2001:10). The EU’s

strategy within development cooperation with the ACP countries is that reforms and strategies

are to be developed according to the specific needs identified by the very country in which the

reforms are to take place. In this way, effectiveness comes to relate to the notion that the

support for governance must be tailored to each country’s specific situation in order to pursue

the most effective method for achieving sustainable development. Effectiveness is a common

term in development discourse since it also associates to concepts such as aid effectiveness

and policy effectiveness, which are interdependent factors crucial to development promotion.

Coherence

Coherence covers for the accumulation of areas covered by the four above principles.

Coherence is a necessity when dealing with matters of that weight that development and

governance matters entail. Coherence means that policies and action must be razor-sharp in

both draft as well as in practice. The complexity of the challenges in promoting good

governance and development requires political leadership and strong responsibility as well as

an approach of close and thorough dialogue between the EU and the ACP countries in

developing the strategies that are to be carried out. Since good governance according to the

EU is a long-term process of change (European Commission 2006a:20), coherence is even

more important due to the fact that the process covers both various dimensions (political,

economic, social, cultural etc.) and various instruments (aid and investment instruments,

advisory mechanisms, working groups, monitoring and sanctioning mechanisms etc.). An

important feature that explicitly is meant to assure coherence is the fact that joint ACP-EU

institutions have been established in order to, among other aspects, smooth the dialogue and



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enable the proximity that is also a result All these aspects require strict coherence between

policies and action.

Summarized, the EU has defined five principles, which constitute good governance. These

principles are openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness, and coherence. As these

criteria compose good governance, they underpin the conduct of good governance promotion

as well. As this thesis seeks to examine whether good governance promotion through the

Cotonou Agreement is successful, the five principles will be used as the underlying analytical

tools when looking at how good governance provisions appear in the configuration of the

Cotonou Agreement.

2.3. Empirical Scope

In the following, the structure of the Cotonou Agreement will be presented in order to draft

the context of the analysis of good governance promotion as it is conducted in the Agreement.

This analysis will include a view upon the measuring and evaluation processes of the good

governance promotion, but first, the historical features leading to the signing of the Cotonou

Agreement will be briefly presented:

2.3.1. Origins of the Cotonou Agreement

By the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957, which formed the European Economic

Community (EEC) as a customs union, specific emphasis was held to the maintaining of

preferential agreements that had been conducted with the overseas territories and land areas

of the European colonial powers (Mayall 2005:296-7). The preferential clause incorporated in

Part IV of the Treaty of Rome, combined with the fact that the granting of financial and

technical assistance to the African colonies steadily augmented, led to the creation of the

European Development Fund (EDF), which became the central instrument for providing

Community aid for development cooperation in the ACP states. As previously mentioned, this

instrument is based on the direct funding by the EU’s member states.

The status of the EEC as a customs union induced problems early on in the life of the

Community, since fears increased among the newly independent African and Caribbean

countries that EEC policies would result in an impenetrable “Fortress Europe”, and thereby

deprive them of the possibilities of entering the fruity European market (Mayall 2005:296).

This led to the acknowledgement that a more structured approach to the development of the

relations between the European Community and selected groups of former colonies would be

required, and hence, in 1963, the first association agreement between the EC and 18 African



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ex-colonies was signed as a convention in Yaoundé, Cameroon (Bretherton & Vogler

2006:116). This convention was the first step in the process of assuring the African ex-

colonies that a continuous readiness to cooperation with them was of great interest to the

European Community.

The first Yaoundé Convention was primarily a reciprocal agreement guaranteeing preferential

trade access between the members of the EEC and the associated Sub-Saharan African states

(Mayall 2005:297). A substantial revision of the second Yaoundé Convention, covering the

period from 1971 to 1975, led to the signing of the Lomé Convention I (1975-1979), which

was a reinforcement of the previously agreed preferential terms but without a requirement for

reciprocity. Lomé was subsequently renewed 4 times with Lomé IV of 1990 as the first of the

Conventions to be extended to a ten-year period of time. This Agreement was in 2000

replaced by the signing of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement that entered into force in 2003.

2.3.2. Framing the Overall Structure of the Cotonou Agreement

The Cotonou Agreement was signed by the EU15 and the ACP Group, which by the time of

the first revision in 2005 had grown to an impressive 78 countries on the ACP side1 and 25

countries on the European side. It was settled for the duration of 20 years with expiration in

2020, and the following objectives define the core of the EU-ACP Partnership:

“The cooperation strategies shall be based on development strategies and economic and

trade cooperation (…) ACP-EC cooperation strategies shall aim at (…) promoting

institutional reforms and development, strengthening the institutions necessary for the

consolidation of democracy, good governance and for efficient and competitive market

economies (…)”

(The Cotonou Agreement 2003:18)

The Agreement is the most extensive agreement of the entire EU-ACP relationship, covering

a broad range of areas within economic, social and cultural development that aim to resolve

the overall objective of “poverty eradication, sustainable development and the gradual

integration of the ACP countries into the world economy” (Cotonou Agreement 2003:3).

The Agreement builds on a so-called three-pillar system of respectively development

cooperation, economic and trade cooperation, and a political dimension. With the revision of

2005, two more pillars have been formed in order to consolidate the field of economic and 1 South Africa is not a Cotonou signatory although a member of the ACP Group. A bilateral free trade arrangement with the EU binds the two together in an economical scope (Bretherton & Vogler 2006:116)



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trade cooperation with WTO rules as well as making the financial cooperation more flexible.

Formally, this means that the Agreement builds on six main parts that cover the areas of

• General Provisions;

• Institutional Provisions;

• Cooperation Strategies;

• Development Finance Cooperation;

• Special Provisions for the Least-Developed, Landlocked and Island ACP States

(LDLICs);

• Final Provisions


To the Agreement an immense and complex set of annexes, protocols, declarations and

annexes to protocols is attached. The annexes deal with the financing of development

cooperation activities; the trade provisions applicable to ACP-EU trade; programming

processes; project implementations; monitoring and evaluation etc. (In the published edition

of the Cotonou Agreement (2003), the annexes and protocols are printed following the

consolidated text)

3. Analysis

3.1. Identifying Significant Aspects of Good Governance in the Cotonou

Agreement Now that the structural context of the Agreement has been defined, the following part will dig

into an outlining of the aspects of the Agreement that are significant in order to show how and

where good governance becomes present.

The part of the Cotonou Agreement that deals with the scope for development cooperation

establishes the overall strategies and tools for promoting measures to further development,

meanwhile emphasizing the diverse social, economic, cultural and political circumstances that

are inherent in this field. Here, a very important notion, which makes the Cotonou Agreement

a unique tool of cooperation, is the differentiation clause of Article 2 in the General

Provisions.

This is a significant point where the Agreement distances itself from the former conventions

by indicating that cooperation with the various countries must be individually accommodated



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according to the country’s specific level of development, its needs, its performance and long-

term development strategy (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:6).

This has been further elaborated and emphasized by the European Union, which holds that

the implementation of the development strategies must be “tailor-made” (European

Commission 2006a:9), meaning that each country has specific needs and resources available,

which forces a differentiation and specification of implementation methods. This is believed

to enhance the features that lead to a furthering of sustainable development since the reform

strategies are kept at a pace convenient to every partner country.

The part accounting for political cooperation and dialogue establishes the bonds of the ACP-

EU Partnership, and the domestic as well as the shared commitments that this Partnership

stipulates. This part contains an article on political dialogue that has the objectives of

“exchanging information, foster mutual understanding, and to facilitate the establishment of

agreed priorities” (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:8)

Following the article on political dialogue come the significant essential elements and

fundamental element, which constitute the very substance of the components of the ACP-EU

partnership. The essential elements notion is constituted by the respect for human rights,

democratic principles and the rule of law whereas the fundamental element is entailed by

good governance (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:9).

The fact that the attribution to good governance today is a fundamental element, relates to a

compromise, which originally was a result of negotiation processes that induced ACP

concerns over arriving at universal criteria for assessment of governance. The ACP thus

refused to incorporate good governance as an essential element, which hence lead to good

governance identified as a fundamental element (Commonwealth Secretariat 2004:197). This

distinction becomes rather evident, since it defines what measures to be taken in the case of

breach or violation of these elements. This aspect will be elaborated accordingly.

The political dimension is followed by the institutional provisions that account for the

provisions and objectives of the joint ACP-EU institutions. These institutions include The

Council of Ministers, the Committee of Ambassadors, and the Joint Parliamentary Assembly,

and their structures and compositions are different, but all the three institutions involve a

variety of members and representatives of the EU, the EU’s member states, ACP officials and

the member states of the ACP Group (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:14). The joint

institutions have different tasks and play different roles but the overall value of these joint

institutions is the facilitation of coherent processes of dialogue, policy elaboration and

consultation.



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Another point of attention in the Agreement must be attributed to the provisions for trade,

since economic and trade cooperation, as stated in the Agreement, shall aim at:

“(…) fostering the smooth and gradual integration of the ACP States into the world economy

(…) thereby promoting their sustainable development and contributing to poverty eradication

in the ACP countries”

(The Cotonou Agreement 2003:25).

Another feature of the economic and trade cooperation of the EU and the ACPs is that several

years of negotiations have been conducted in the attempt to arrive at more specified and

profitable trade arrangements with the so-called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs),

which were originally targeted at an entry into force as of 2008 (The Cotonou Agreement

2003:26). These Agreements are intended to establish reciprocal preferential trade

arrangements compatible with WTO rules, by removing all other preferential agreements,

removing all barriers to trade to all developing countries, and thereby boosting the economies

and trade performance of the ACP countries (Commonwealth Secretariat 2004:184-5). The

negotiations are, as all other measures of the ACP-EU partnership, to be individually

specified according to the needs and capabilities of the given partner country.

Yet, in spite of the provisions for the entering into force of these new trading arrangements

by 2008, negotiations have still not been concluded.

Finally, the Final Provisions of the Agreement contain an article on the Consultation

Procedure and Appropriate Measures, which are presented as essential elements. Here it is

explained that in the case of breach within the respect for human rights, democratic principles

and the rule of law, a consultation between the implicated parties will be conducted according

to the measures considered most appropriate (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:53-4). As

regards corruption, this breach has been attributed with its own article defining the

consultation procedure and appropriate measures, which proves the severity attributed to this

type of violation.

With the overview of the structure of the Cotonou Agreement, the following part will seek to

analyze and discuss the promotion of good governance through the Agreement, and whether

or not it undergoes successful execution.



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3.2. How Dialogue Becomes a Keyword Within Good Governance Discourse of

the Cotonou Agreement

As previously mentioned, the European Union regards good governance as a process, and this

process has two dimensions; below it will be presented how these two dimensions entail both

the process that characterizes the promoting of good governance meaning the very act of

“promoting”, as well as good governance as it appears in the form of a goal in itself in the

Cotonou Agreement

The Union holds that the successful achievement and implementation of the good governance

process depends on the practical approaches that lead to gradual progress (European

Commission 2003b:4). This practical path taken by the Union towards the furthering of the

processes of democratic governance is thus based on the partnership-based approach,

continuous and thorough dialogue, and the financial instruments available for donating aid

(European Commission 2006a:6), which comes to represent different ways of conducting and

promoting good governance.

In the Political Dimension of the Cotonou Agreement it is stated that “The Parties shall

regularly engage in a comprehensive, balanced and deep political dialogue leading to

commitments on both sides” (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:8). Dialogue is heavily

emphasized since it is the foundation enabling an exchange of information and experience,

which leads to the procurement of knowledge-sharing and the drawing up of action plans and

programmes that define the policy frame for the measures to be taken in a given partner

country. According to the European Union’s definition of good governance, openness,

participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence are required criteria for good

governance to be perceived as successful. The fact that the Cotonou Agreement emphasizes a

comprehensive, balanced and deep dialogue enables the measures of all five principles to be

present in the ACP-EU cooperative processes. To this translates into the way that the dialogue

process in itself contains the principles for it to be perceived as a conduct of good

governance, and at the same time, dialogue is the forum in which good governance as an end

in itself is developed and evaluated. This statement is further explained below:

The dialogue approach sets at two levels, which means that political institutions or actors are

not the exclusive parties of the entire dialogue approach. Other in-country stakeholders

representing political, social, economic or other decentralized authorities are included

(European Commission 2003b:6), which becomes possible since the one level of dialogue

comprises the elaboration of the specific action programmes based on the clarification of

what is needed in a given country, and the other level relates to regular policy dialogue, which



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represents the elaborations of specific political areas. This dual aspect of the conduct of

dialogue enables the proximity of the EU and ACP parties as well as it ensures consistence

and coherence in all aspects of the relationship. The European Consensus on Development

clarifies this aspect in an excellent manner:

Political dialogue is an important way in which to further development objectives. In the

framework of the political dialogue (…) the respect for good governance, human rights,

democratic principles and the rule of law will be regularly assessed with a view to forming a

shared understanding and identifying supporting measures. This dialogue has an important

preventive dimension and aims to ensure that these principles are upheld”

(European Commission 2006a:4)

So, referring to the preventive dimension, the continuity of dialogue is emphasized so that it is

avoided that dialogue only takes place whenever there is a crisis or a specific event requiring

for elaboration. If this were the case, dialogue would be attributed with a negative connotation

and might result in less coherence throughout the aspects of the relationship. Instead, the fact

that dialogue is conducted on a continuous basis, more shared agendas and joint definitions of

priority areas and cooperation will be established (European Commission 2003b:7).

According to the five principles for good governance, the continuity of dialogue enables that

openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence in all its aspects are

assured in the policy process.

The importance attributed to the dialogue approach in European Union discourse also

illustrates the recognition that good governance and other features inherent in the strategies of

development cooperation cannot be forced from an external position. Dialogue with partner

countries and the acknowledgment that they must take a so-called “ownership” of the reform

strategies in order to successfully implementing them, are crucial steps to be taken into

account by the aid donors. The ownership of reforms connotes the already mentioned tailor-

made strategies that are to be elaborated according to the needs and characteristics of the

given developing country. These specific needs and characteristics are identified through

analyses based on country-driven reform programmes that set in a context of legitimacy and

accountability (European Commission 2003b:6). It is in order to establish these programmes

that the in-country dialogue becomes increasingly essential.

All in all, one may establish that the dialogue notion is greatly emphasized as a means to

measure the progress within good governance processes, which is signified according to

various international and national governance indicators, and dialogue here establishes the



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forum in which a closer monitoring and evaluation of the evolution of the implemented

reforms can take place. If the monitoring and evaluation processes show indications of

breaches of the provisions of the Agreement, a consultation process underpinned by dialogue

is introduced.

“Rather dialogue than sanctions” states the European Union (European Commission

2006b:7), and dialogue so becomes the frame when countries fail to carry out the provisions

established in the Agreement. The mechanisms in order to conduct various consultation

processes are established when questions of breaches of the provisions of the Agreement

arise. The consultation processes are formed according to the actual “severity” of the breach

of an objective, and especially the breaches of the essential elements and the fundamental

element are reasons for executing these consultations. Exemplified in the Agreement,

corruption, which constitutes an element of bad governance, is a breach of such a severity that

Article 97 is dedicated merely to the breach of this. It is stated that “(…) if the consultations

do not lead to a solution acceptable to both Parties, or if a consultation is refused, the Parties

shall take the appropriate measures” (The Cotonou Agreement 2003:54). The consultations

are so supported, or one might say preceded, by dialogue which is supposed to find

appropriate solutions for solving the problem and continue the process in order to further

progress in the given country.

So, as shown, dialogue is greatly emphasized as the way in which, among other aspects, good

governance as a goal within development cooperation is elaborated, but also how the conduct

of good governance through the process of dialogue leads to results.

3.3. Concluding Remarks on how Good Governance Appears with a Dual

Connotation in the ACP-EU Framework

With the above analysis of how good governance is operationalized through measures of

dialogue, one may conclude that good governance promotion in ACP-EU cooperation

actually also has a double connotation to it.

Primarily, there is the explicit usage of the term in the Agreement, where the term symbolizes

an end in itself. This is seen in the articles of the Cotonou Agreement stating what strategies

good governance as a whole must be a part and thus an aim of. The use of good governance

as an end in itself is exemplified in Article 20.1(d) of the Development Strategies:



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“(…) promoting institutional reforms and development, strengthening the institutions

necessary for the consolidation of democracy, good governance and for efficient and

competitive market economies”


Several other examples of the explicit use of good governance as an end in itself are clearly

specified in the Agreement, and one of them is found in the Political Dimension of the

General Provisions, Article 9.4.:

“The Partnership shall actively support the promotion of human rights, processes of

democratization, consolidation of the rule of law, and good governance”


At the same time, there is the implicit good governance promotion, which, when looking at

the Agreement through EU discourse, becomes clear through the operationalization of the

five principles that constitute good governance. This is what has already been explained in the

above, where dialogue permits for an ACP-EU good governance conduct in the cooperation

that leads to the implementation of good governance in the ACP States.

All in all, this means that good governance explicitly becomes evident in the Agreement as

the term becomes part of the methods of acting out the provisions of the Agreement, and, put

in another way, when good governance is an objective for achieving sustainable development,

good governance must also characterize the method that leads to the good governance action

plans in ACP countries. In order for good governance to be successfully promoted, the five

principles of openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence must also

underpin the mechanisms that lead to the elaboration of strategies that are to reform and

implement good governance in a given country as well as the mechanisms that conduct

monitoring and evaluations of the progress towards achieving good governance.

Holding these aspects together, it becomes evident that good governance promotion in its

duality occurs in all the various processes of dialogue. The dialogue emphasized in the

Agreement is in itself an example of the conduct of good governance since the dialogue

approach in all its features covers for the five principles that constitute good governance. At

the same time, the dialogue approach represents the forum where measures are elaborated and

evaluated, and where good governance as a goal in itself is promoted through the very act of

conducting of good governance. When putting this into perspective, as the European Union

stated in its White Paper on Governance: “(…) the first step must be to reform governance



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successfully at home in order to enhance the case for change at an international level”

(European Commission 2001:26) which perfectly exemplifies good governance promotion at

the ACP-EU level through the Cotonou Agreement as well. In order to enhance the case for

change and promote good governance externally, one must conduct good governance

internally in the ACP-EU cooperation forum as well. This is what is done both in the

objectives of the Agreement as well as in the processes for execution of the objectives.

4. Conclusion

This thesis has in the above searched to examine to what extent the Cotonou Agreement

constitutes a successful means to the promotion of good governance. The basic historical

context in which the problem statement of the thesis is elaborated sets in the beginning of the

1990s, when good governance arose to become an essential element within development

discourse. With this, good governance promotion has grown to become an even more vital

means to the achievement of sustainable development in all international development action.

After developing the overall problem statement according to the above, three sub questions

were established in order to put good governance into a context of both overall as well as

European Union governance discourse. The sub questions furthermore direct the examination

at how good governance promotion is operationalized through the scope of the Cotonou

Agreement. In this examination it was established that in EU discourse five principles

constitute successful governance. These principles are openness, participation,

accountability, effectiveness and coherence.

In order to understand the connection between good governance promotion and the ACP-EU

cooperation, development discourse was introduced to form the surrounding frame in which

both good governance and the Cotonou Agreement take place. This was perceived as vital for

the thesis to clarify that good governance, according to international development actors, is

deemed essential for the strengthening of development.

With the clarification of good governance in general as well as in EU terms, the Cotonou

Agreement has provided for the empirical basis in which the analysis is carried out. This has

exemplified that good governance promotion in the Cotonou Agreement takes the shape of

two characters; the promotion of good governance as a development objective in its own

right, and the promotion of good governance through the conduct of good governance in

ACP-EU cooperation. The conduct of good governance is operationalized through processes



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of dialogue where dialogue in its own core assures the features of openness, participation,

accountability, effectiveness and coherence. In this manner it is concluded that good

governance promotion through the Cotonou Agreement theoretically is successfully executed

when looking at the fact that the five principles defining good governance are present in both

the objectives of the Agreement as well as in the operational methods that conduct the

Cotonou Agreement’s objectives. So, in accordance with European Union beliefs it has been

established that good governance must be conducted internally in order to promote it

externally. Here, internally means the joint domestic forum of ACP-EU cooperation, and as

stated, good governance conduct is identified as successful in the theoretical manner. Since

the objective was to establish whether the Cotonou Agreement as a means for good

governance promotion was a successful one, this has so been accomplished.

5. Putting the Thesis into Perspective

As mentioned above, the thesis lays the theoretical foundations, which incites to a deeper

examination of the implications of good governance promotion. An essential aspect to the

focus of this thesis are the consequential features of good governance promotion, meaning an

examination of the direct evaluative effects of the implementation processes, for example, the

consequences when good governance is deemed a success or a failure in a developing

country, what are the consequences for the given developing country, and what are the

consequences for the ACP-EU relationship as a whole. Moreover, within the scope of good

governance promotion, one may also claim that some countries are met with bigger

economical benefits the lower degree of development they face. This leads to debates on

whether especially the least-developed countries formally obtain more financial assistance

when not raising their level of development. These features are among the very essential

parts of the overall ACP-EU cooperation and especially the future of the Cotonou Agreement.

This, however, will be left as an inspiration for future investigators.



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6. Bibliography

6.1. Websites Development Cooperation Directorate of the DAC

• http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/27/42139250.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011 Europa – Summaries of EU Legislation

• http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0421en01.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011

• http://eurlex.europa.eu/Notice.do?val=432794:cs&lang=en&list=432798:cs,432892:cs,432894:cs,432797:cs,432992:cs,432893:cs,432796:cs,432795:cs,432794:cs,432793:cs,&pos=9&page=1&nbl=24&pgs=10&hwords= Retrieved on May 3, 2011

European Commission

• http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/european_consensus_2005_en.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011

• http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/strategy_paper_intra_acp_edf10_en.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011

United Nations Development Programme

• http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml Retrieved on May 3, 2011 • http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/undp/governance/reconceptualizing.p

df Retrieved on May 3, 2011

6.2. Literature ACP-EC Joint Council of Ministers (2006) Decision No 1/2006 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers of 2 June 2006 specifying the multiannual financial framework for the period 2008 to 2013 and modifying the revised ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, Published by the European Council, Brussels http://eurlex.europa.eu/Notice.do?val=432794:cs&lang=en&list=432798:cs,432892:cs,432894:cs,432797:cs,432992:cs,432893:cs,432796:cs,432795:cs,432794:cs,432793:cs,&pos=9&page=1&nbl=24&pgs=10&hwords= Retrieved on May 3, 2011 Abrahamsen, R. (2000) Disciplining Democracy: Development Discourse and Good Governance in Africa. London & New York, Zed Books, Ltd. ISBN: 1-85649-859-X Bretherton, C. & Vogler, J. (2006) The European Union as a Global Actor. 2. Ed. Abingdon, Oxon, Routledge ISBN: 978-0-415-28245-1 Commonwealth Secretariat (2004) The Cotonou Agreement a user’s guide. London, The Economic Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat ISBN: 0-85092-789-7



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The Cotonou Agreement (2003) ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 Publication comprising the list of signatories, the consolidated text, annexes and protocols and the final act. Published by the Directorate-General for Development under the European Commission, Brussels ISBN: 92-894-6040-7 DAC (2011) Development Aid at a Glance – Statistics by Region 2. Africa. 2011 Edition. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/27/42139250.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011 European Commission (1982) Memorandum on the Community’s development policy. Bulletin of the European Communities. Supplement 5/82. COM., Luxembourg. ISBN: 92-825-3331-x European Commission (2001) European Governance a White Paper 2001. COM(2001) 428 final, Brussels. European Commission (2003b) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee. Governance and Development. COM(2003) 615 final, Brussels European Commission (2006a) The European Consensus on Development. Official Journal of the European Union. Joint statement by the Council, The European Parliament and the Commission (2006/C 46). http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/european_consensus_2005_en.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011 European Commission (2006b) Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Governance in the European Consensus on Development. COM(2006) 421 final, Brussels http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2006/com2006_0421en01.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011 European Commission & The ACP Group of States (2009) Intra-ACP Cooperation – 10th EDF. Strategy Paper and Multiannual Indicative Programme 2008-2013. http://ec.europa.eu/development/icenter/repository/strategy_paper_intra_acp_edf10_en.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011 Højberg, H. (2007) Hermeneutik. Forståelse og fortolkning i samfundsvidenskaberne. In: Fuglsang, L. & Bitsch Olsen, P (Ed.) Videnskabsteori i samfundsvidenskaberne. På tværs af fagkulturer og paradigmer. Frederiksberg C, Roskilde Universitetsforlag. ISBN: 87-78-67278-3 Langergaard, L., Rasmussen, Søren B. & Sørensen, A. (2006) Viden, videnskab og virkelighed. Frederiksberg C, Forlaget Samfundslitteratur ISBN: 87-593-0949-0 Mayall, J. (2005) The Shadow of Empire. In: Hill, C & Smith, M (Ed.): International Relations and the European Union. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-927348-5 Smith, B.C. (2007) Good Governance and Development. New York, Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-0-230-52566-5



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UNDP (1997) Reconceptualising Governance, Discussion Paper no. 2, New York, United Nations Development Programme. http://www.pogar.org/publications/other/undp/governance/reconceptualizing.pdf Retrieved on May 3, 2011 UNDP (2010) Fast Facts – The Millenium Development Goals http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml Retrieved May 3, 2011

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