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The Cotonou Partnership Agreement, signed in Benin in 2000 between the European Union (EU) and its African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) partners, constitutes the basis for much of the EU's interaction with developing countries. The Agreement stresses the need to prioritize poverty alleviation and sustainable development as part of the overall development process. While an all-embracing approach to tackling problems of poverty and the environment ostensibly fulfils a number of social and political requirements where the EU's moral obligation towards the South is currently concerned, Cotonou's flagship provisions invite closer scrutiny. This paper considers the EU's attempt to marry poverty alleviation and sustainable development within its pro-poor strategy and assesses the likely efficacy of this approach in achieving Cotonou's stated aims.Journal of International Relations and Development (2008) 11, 55–74. doi:10.1057/jird.2008.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the forces impacting the longstanding relationship between the European Union and African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states that are altering the fundamental nature of the relationship. Signing of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement in Cotonou in 2000; Exogenous and endogenous forces of change; Effectiveness of the Lomé model; Differences between the contents of the Lomé and Cotonou agreements; Experiences with the fundamental changes and their impact on cooperation between the countries involved; Superiority of the Cotonou agreement over the Lomé Conventions.