Commission Communication on the Strategy for the Pacific

The Commission’s strategy proposal sets frames for the cooperation between the EU and the Pacific Islands. It aims to increase the efficiency of political dialogue and development aid. The strategy, which was published at the end of May, particularly concerns the 15 ACP countries of the Pacific and it is a continuation of the proposal for the Strategy for the Caribbean published by the Commission and of the EU’s Strategy for Africa adopted by the Council.

The strategy is based on three concrete proposals:

1. Building stronger political relations on interests of common concern such as global political security, trade, economic and social development and the environment;

2. Focusing development cooperation on areas where the Pacific has important needs and where the EU has a comparative advantage and a good track record, such as the sustainable management of natural resources, regional cooperation and good governance (for example, addressing the root causes of instability in the region, reducing corruption);

3. Increasing the efficiency of aid delivery including using more direct budgetary aid and working more closely with other partners, particularly Australia and New Zealand.

The purpose of the strategy is to render the cooperation between the EU and the Pacific region conformable to the European Consensus on Development (2005) and the Cotonou Agreement, which is under evaluation.

The strategy will cover the following Pacific islands: Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.