THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209(2) in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,
Having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (‘the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement’),
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1)
At the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, the Parties to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement called for a more direct private sector engagement in order to advance innovation, create income and jobs, promote SMEs and entrepreneurship, mobilise domestic resources and further develop innovative financial mechanisms.
(2)
Taking into account the above and the evolution of the international context, in particular the considerable number of actors and modalities capable of providing effective private sector support, related programmes are to be implemented through organisations that have shown their capacity to provide high quality expertise in a cost-effective way.
(3)
At its 39th session held on 19 and 20 June 2014 in Nairobi, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers agreed, in a Joint Declaration, to proceed with the orderly closing of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (‘CDE’) and the amendment of Annex III to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement and, for this purpose, decided to grant a delegation of powers to the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors to take the matter forward with a view to adopting the necessary decisions.
(4)
The position of the Union within the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors regarding the mandate to be given to the Executive Board of the CDE should therefore be based on the attached draft Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: