Cotonou partnership

I refer to Manuel Rizzo's letter "The Cotonou agreement" (March 26). Mr Rizzo argues that Malta should aspire to a relationship with the EU on the lines of the countries that entered into the so-called Cotonou agreement with the EU or on the lines of Cuba.

In this respect, may I bring some points to the attention of Mr Rizzo and to your readers.

1. Countries that are party to the Cotonou agreement are known as ACPs, which stands for African, Caribbean, Pacific countries. Clearly, Malta does not fall in any of these three geographical zones to which the Cotonou agreement is tied and is, therefore, not eligible to form part of the Cotonou agreement.

2. More importantly, the Cotonou agreement is open to the world's least developed countries such as Togo, Angola, St Lucia, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia. Clearly, Malta does not fall in this category of countries in terms of economic development.

3. The Cotonou agreement offers what is known as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). These agreements help least-developed countries reduce and eventually eradicate poverty, consistent with sustainable development and to gradually integrate them into the world economy. Once again, clearly, Malta's level of development is already well beyond this stage and this makes the Cotonou agreement irrelevant for Malta as a policy option.

Outside EU membership, Malta's relationship with the EU would be similar to that already established with Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt and other southern Mediterranean countries under what is known as the Euro-Med Partnership. This is the partnership that the EU offers to non-member Mediterranean countries. But for the sake of clarity, it must be stressed that this partnership is not and should not be confused with the "partnership" expounded by the Malta Labour Party of which, as such, there are no known examples.