Statement by the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on consultations between the European Union and Mauritania
© A. Arraou, MAEE
- On: 17.10.2008
Consultations between the European Union and Mauritania under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement are due to start with a meeting to be held on 20 October at the World Bank conference centre in Paris. These consultations are due to last 120 days at the most.
Mr Alain Joyandet, Minister of State for Cooperation and the Francophonie will be representing the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The European Commission will be represented by Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. The Mauritanian delegation, led by Mr Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf, will include government members appointed by the junta as well as other political leaders. The ACP Group of States is to play a key role in these consultations. ACP States will be represented by the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, certain ACP States and their Secretariat. The African Union will also attend as an observer, in view of its contribution in the search for a solution to the crisis.
Since the coup d’état of 6 August, the European Union, alongside the entire international community, has called for the liberation of President Abdallahi and the restoration of constitutional order in Mauritania.
As the junta has failed to respond to this call, the European Union notified the authorities who seized power in the coup d’état of its intention to open consultations under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement. The European Union has used this mechanism on several occasions in the past, which provides for enhanced dialogue to remedy the situation in the event of the violation by either party of certain key elements of the Agreement, such as respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law.
Within this framework, we shall reiterate our demands and hear the proposals put forward by Mauritania. Should an acceptable solution not be found through dialogue, appropriate measures may be taken by the European Union.
- Updated: 20.10.2008
