The Prospects for a New Lomé convention: structural adjustment or structural transformation?

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Abstract
In December 1989 the European Community (EC) and 66 African, Caribbean and Pacific states (the ACP) completed negotiations on the establishment of a fourth Lomé Convention. There can be little doubt that one of the decisive factors in influencing the ACP to continue their association with the EC has been Lomé aid. The funding disbursed by the European Development Fund (EDF) has gained a reputation for its generous terms. It has also entailed relatively low conditionality, the EDF's only stipulation being that it should be spent on EC goods and services. However, this benefit has been put at risk in the newly agreed text of Lomé 4. One of the central innovations of the revised convention will be to introduce a new level of conditionality into Lomé aid in the form of ‘structural adjustment’ policies. This Briefing assesses the likely impact this innovation is likely to have on the operation of the Lomé aid regime. In order to do this we shall initially review the current operation of the Lomé Convention with a view to determining how far it actually does benefit the ACP. The question of why the EC evidently feels that it is necessary to introduce structural adjustment policies into the Lomé regime will also be addressed. Finally, we shall examine how the EC is likely to implement these policies.