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1. Executive Summary

	This report has been prepared to assist the ACP to develop a detailed strategy for their relationship with the EU after the expiry of the Lomé Convention. As such, it aims to provide a contribution both to the current negotiations and to appropriate policy formation within ACP countries.
	The report is based on the premise that a continuation of the status quo in terms of effective as opposed to nominal access to the European market is not an option. This is because forces operating outside of the Convention will undermine Lomé preferences if the relationship is not put on a footing more relevant to the twenty-first century.
	Since the EU’s proposal for the successor regime, with regional economic partnership agreements (REPAs) at its core, is not satisfactory, the task is to identify alternative strategies. These need to take account of the changes to be expected over the next five to ten years, the evidence of other relevant agreements, and the varying needs of different ACP states.
	The report approaches this task through: a review of the trends in international trade policy that are undermining the effectiveness and credibility of the Lomé Convention; relevant examples of the type of agreement that the EU appears to have in mind in its REPA proposal; the broad lines of a strategy to implement the ACP’s desire to extend the World Trade Organization (WTO) waiver on Lomé and to provide an adequate ‘safety net’ should subsequent negotiations prove to be unsatisfactory.