Minister of Foreign Affairs Victor Borges will preside over a multi-sector meeting this afternoon aimed at preparing for the next Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit of heads of state and heads of government, which will take place on December 17 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It has already been decided that Prime Minister José Maria Neves will head the Cape Verdean delegation to the summit.

A review of the first year of work by the ECOWAS Commission is one of the items on the agenda of the summit, which will be preceded by a conference of ministers, also to be held in Ouagadougou, between November 13 and 15. Cape Verde plans to submit a proposal regarding item 68 of the ECOWAS treaty, which calls for “special treatment for island states.”

Another important item on the agenda of the summit is the future Economic Partnership Accord with the European Union, which, in principle, should go into effect on January 1, 2008. It is more likely, however, as one diplomat admitted to A Semana Online, that “the European Commission will put off the implementation of the Economic Partnership Accord because none of Africa’s regions is ready for it.”

Cape Verde has already altered its position in this regard. All indications are that Praia authorities now wish to put their support behind the Economic Partnership Accord within the regional framework of the ECOWAS, as long as Cape Verdean national interests are safeguarded.

Source: A Semana