Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to opt into any future successor to the Cotonou Agreement.

The UK government welcomes the EU’s intention to involve a broad range of actors in the EU’s post-2020 partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This is of particular interest to us as we consider the UK’s future partnership with the EU.

We will only continue our development collaboration with the EU where it is in our mutual interest and represents the best value for taxpayers’ money. As the successor to the current Cotonou agreement is still subject to negotiation between the EU and ACP countries, it is not yet possible to determine whether it will be in the UK’s best interests to seek to join any future agreement. We will continue to participate in those discussions while we remain an EU Member State.