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Using goodgovernance topromoteregionalintegrationAfrican, Caribbean and Pacific Groupof States (ACP Group) Symposium on:Regional Integration and GoodGovernanceBrussels, Belgium7 June 2010am pleased to be here with you today to commemorate the 35thI anniversary of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, the ACPGroup. Since its inception, the ACP Group has consistently and crediblymanaged the relations between its member States and the EuropeanUnion over the years through the changing structure of theEuropean integration project as well as the constantly mutating internationallandscape. This anniversary is therefore well worth celebrating.I find the theme of this symposium – Regional Integration and GoodGovernance –compelling for several reasons. To start with, regionalintegration is one of the two pillars of ECA’s work, the other beinghelping Africa to meet its special needs. Improving governance conditionsin Africa is certainly one of the continent’s priorities if theprovisions of the AU Charter and its NEPAD programme are anythingto go by. The topic is also pertinent and timely because we are atthe heart of the European Union, the most successful regional integrationarrangement of recent times. Topical events, even here inEurope, have shown that governance conditions in some MemberStates impact greatly on other members of the European Union.Since Africa is the continent that I am most familiar with, most of myexamples will be drawn from there. Africa as a continent, given itsfragmentation into small States, has to integrate if it is to significantlyIntegrating Africa103