Marie-Arlette Carlotti, on behalf of the PSE Group. – (FR) Madam President, I would like you to know first of all that I am very happy to see you holding this Presidency. It is rare to see women in that position.

The review of the Cotonou Agreement was a significant challenge. We would like to give it real political content by refocusing it on the Millennium objectives and the eradication of poverty. It should be acknowledged, however, that this revision does not entirely live up to its ambitions. Our group has had the opportunity to express its disagreement on several occasions on two points in particular. The first relates to the integration of two commitments into the fundamental values of the agreement: one relating to terrorism, the other to weapons of mass destruction. We are not opposed to them as such, but we feel that the principles of democracy and respect for human rights must remain the main benchmarks of this agreement. My second point relates to the financial dimension. The tenth EDF, which has been the subject of tough negotiations, could not be integrated into the revised agreement.

Nevertheless, we are not now proposing that the assent be refused, firstly because progress has been made on many points, such as enhancement of political dialogue, the reference to national parliaments as beneficiaries of aid and support for the International Criminal Court from signatories of the agreement. Secondly, because our ACP partners themselves have accepted the revised agreement and are eager to implement its financial chapter, for which I believe we have obtained a more or less acceptable sum.

It is therefore pointless to look back. From now on we have a new battle to wage. We must be certain that every euro genuinely contributes to achieving the development objectives and therefore ensure that the programming of the tenth EDF is better. For example, by setting political objectives that would consist in allocating 20% of the sums to basic education or health in the ACP countries, or by attaching more importance than we currently do to the gender dimension in our development policy. That is the work facing us over the coming weeks, ladies and gentlemen.