Marrying poverty alleviation and sustainable development? An analysis of the EU-ACP Cotonou agreement

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.