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The acp-eu-trade.org newsletter -- No. 12/August 2007
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In this issue:
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Focus on…:
Interview with João Gomes Cravinho, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal
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EPA Negotiations Update
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News: Highlights of July/August
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Selection from www.acp-eu-trade.org Library
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Resources from Recent Events
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Dear readers,
Welcome to this new issue of the acp-eu-trade.org Newsletter!
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Enjoy your reading!
Editor: Davina Makhan ( dm@ecdpm.org ) and Corinna Braun-Munzinger ( cbm@ecdpm.org )
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Focus On...
Interview with João Gomes Cravinho, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal
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Portugal is holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2007 . In this issue of the acp-eu-trade newsletter, Secretary of State João Gomes Cravinho answers our questions and outlines the views of the Portuguese Presidency on the current EPA negotiations.
1. What are the main objectives of the Portuguese Presidency for the EPA negotiations, in the last months to the end-of-year deadline as set by the Cotonou Agreement?
The principle and the timetable for concluding negotiations on EPAs by 31 December 2007 were agreed by the ACP and the EU states in the Cotonou Agreement in 2000.
Negotiations are ongoing with six regional groupings of ACP countries: Central Africa , Western Africa , Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), CARIFORUM, the SADC region and the Pacific. Despite the process being in the overall behind schedule, in the past months negotiations have acquired a positive political momentum.
In May 2007, EU Ministers for Foreign and External Relations adopted Council Conclusions on EPAs which represented an important step forward in defining the EU position in the last phase of the negotiations. They reconfirm that the EU is united in supporting pro-development EPAs, and they contain a number of concrete commitments intended to reassure the ACP side on all open issues. Another step forward was the ACP–EC Council on 25 May 2007 where the Joint Review foreseen in Article 37.4 of the Cotonou Agreement has been endorsed. That represented an important achievement that underscores the commitment of both parties to conclude negotiations within the foreseen timetable. We therefore have to work intensively together on the resolution of some important outstanding issues.
The main objective of the Portuguese Presidency is that the conclusion of EPAs can be reached by 31 December 2007 , with outcomes that respect the principle that EPAs are above all designed as instruments for development.
The time is running short and the conclusion of EPAs is of utmost importance, namely because it is needed to correspond to WTO obligations, as the waiver is expiring at the end of the year. Bearing this in mind, the Portuguese Presidency intends to redouble the efforts to intensify the negotiation process and is confident that the ACP and Commission negotiators will find innovative solutions to the outstanding issues. A number of negotiating meetings at ministerial level have been scheduled to try to remove difficulties. The foreseen presentation by the Commission on the state of play of the negotiations in October and possible discussions at ministerial level in September will also shed more light on the effective possibility to conclude the negotiations with all regions in time. The possibility that some fine-tuning work may require more time is not excluded.
2. It is stated in the Priorities of the Portuguese Presidency that, in the context of Trade and ACP countries, Portugal aims at maintaining “The European commitment to an international multilateral trading system and at “pursuing the goal of integrating ACP countries into the world economy”.
In the current context characterizing the EPA negotiations and process, how do you reconcile this stated objective with the imperative of EPAS being truly development oriented, as stressed by the ACP-EU consensus reached under the German Presidency in March 2007?
The Portuguese Presidency is fully engaged in taking forward the EU commitment to a development-oriented, sustainable and ambitious outcome of the WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations for the benefit of developing countries and in the context of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and to an international multilateral trading system.
The above objectives are not contradictory, but the conciliation between them depends above all on how and to what extent the different concrete levels of development are taken into account in the EPA negotiations and process.
The situation of ACP countries is specific. Under the Cotonou Agreement ACP countries have enjoyed preferential trade relations with the EU. These trade preferences are not compatible with WTO rules because they are not reciprocal and they discriminate against other developing countries. Moreover these preferences have not helped the ACP countries to achieve sustainable growth and diversify their economies. They have also not contributed to an increase in ACP countries' quota of the EU import, which, on the contrary, is shrinking as a consequence of progressive trade liberalisation taking place at multilateral level.
EPAs have the potential to foster economic growth and development through the combined action of regional integration, progressive liberalisation and asymmetric opening of markets with long transitional periods, commitment to policy reform by the ACP countries, and provision of EU tailored financial support for the EPAs' implementation. This is being foreseen in the negotiation of the 10 th EDF, which is larger than the 9 th by more than a third and the amounts devoted to regional integration were almost doubled. In order to ensure synergies between these funds and EPA-related actions, trade-related concerns are being integrated in the national and regional indicative programmes.
The EU has also initiated discussions on a Joint Strategy on Aid for Trade that is foreseen to be adopted next October, and can play a crucial role in the successful outcome of negotiations. Aid for Trade constitutes a fundamental tool to the future implementation of EPAs, combined with other important EU instruments such as those in the field of infrastructure and agriculture. All these instruments are being foreseen with a view to ensure the effective integration of ACP countries in the world economy on the basis of sustainable development processes.
3. Which role will be given to the EPA process and possible outcome under the new strategic partnership between Europe and Africa that is to be launched on the occasion of the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon on the 8 th and the 9 th of December and which also comprises a trade and regional integration thematic cluster?
The EU–Africa Summit in December in Lisbon is one of the priorities of the Portuguese Presidency and an important event with Heads of State and Governments from more than 80 countries and representing 1.5 billion people. The preparations are well under way.
We are working together in order to lay the foundations for a long term, sustainable dialogue on a broad range of issues with Africa continent. We are now negotiating with African partners a Joint Strategy and Action, on the basis of an “outline” that was endorsed by the EU/Africa Ministerial Troika in May. One of the “volets” of this outline is the one on “trade and regional integration”. In this context, both parties have already identified a number of principles as well as priorities that they consider important to explore in the future dialogue between Europe and Africa . Such issues largely correspond to many of the aspects that are being discussed in parallel in the framework of the negotiations of EPAs. The latter are the concrete instruments that form the basis and structure the economic and trade relations between EU and ACP regions and countries, aiming at promoting their integration at sub-regional and continental level and in the world economy.
Both are relevant to each other and our overall priority in this area is to ensure coherence between the EPAs process and the broader level of dialogue on ”trade and integration” in the framework of the strategic partnership between EU and Africa .
Further resources:
-> Website of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union
-> Priorities of the Portuguese Presidency EN FR
-> Report on the address of Secretary of State João Gomes Cravinho at the European Parliament Development Committee on 18 July 2007
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By Melissa Julian
This section elaborates on the EPA Update provided in the latest issue of the two-monthly “Trade Negotiations Insights From Doha to Cotonou”. To read it in full, visit our E-Newsletter section on www.acp-eu-trade.org, and select Trade Negotiations Insights - Longer version of the EPA Negotiations Update, or click here
July - August 2007
Summary
*ACP-EU assess EPA negotiation process and vow to meet end-of-year deadline
*EU adopts EPA conclusions amid intense debate
*All-
Africa EPA initiatives
*Central Africa (CEMAC)
*West Africa (ECOWAS)
*Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
*Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA)
*Caribbean (CARIFORUM)
*Pacific
ACP-EU assess EPA negotiation process and vow to meet end-of-year deadline
The ACP-EU Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels on May 25 endorsed the formal and comprehensive review required under Article 37.4 of the Cotonou Agreement meant to ensure that no further time is needed for preparations or negotiations. ACP and EU ministers said that while the negotiations are behind schedule, they remained committed to completing the negotiations before the 31 December deadline, provided that mutually acceptable parallel progress is made in relation to market access, the text of the agreement and the accompanying measures, including development finance and EPA related adjustment costs. The meeting was preceded by an ACP Council [click here to read more]
EU adopts EPA conclusions amid intense debate
Earlier, EU member states adopted a series of inter-related conclusions covering trade, development and aid issues during the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in Brussels on 14-15 May which provide more details on what the EU will propose and accept in EPAs.
EPA conclusions were adopted after heated exchanges between member states which were unhappy that the EU Commission had offered ACP countries full duty-free and quota-free access without prior consultations.
[click here to read more]
EU unveils Joint Africa Strategy Outline
On 15 May, the EU agreed an Outline for the Joint EU-Africa Strategy to be adopted at the Joint EU-Africa summit in December. The strategy should set out shared visions, objectives, approaches and specific strategies in key areas. In relation to Trade and Regional Integration, the aim is to improve economic governance and the investment climate; build technical infrastructure and productive capacities; support regional integration; support trade integration in Africa ; build technical and institutional capacity for negotiations in trade and related areas; promote market access of goods and services to the EU and in multilateral trade negotiations.
[click here to read more]
End of year deadline ‘possible'
Meanwhile, Michel told members of the African and European Parliament that sufficient political will exists to conclude the EPAs by the end of the year.
Speaking at the 13 th session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) in Wiesbaden, Germany, on June 26 , Michel this added real value in terms of development.
“The effects of the EPAs are already being felt,” he said, claiming EU efforts were spread proportionally on both aid and trade.
Michel said the EU was ready to accept long, or very long transition periods for the opening of ACP markets while EU markets would be opened “in the most ambitious way and in a way that it has never formulated for any bilateral agreement.”
However, Nita Deerpalsing, a Member of Parliament from Mauritius raised concerns about the EU's approach to a zero-zero negotiating structure on abolishing export subsidies on farm products and said the Commission's plans to unilaterally denounce the provisions of the sugar protocol as “totally unacceptable”
[click here to read more]
Central Africa (CEMAC)
Following a series of technical expert and senior official meetings in May and June and after difficult negotiations in which CEMAC at one stage walked out due to their perception that the EU did not want to provide clarity on financing for reinforcing capacities, CEMAC and the Commission agreed the majority of a text on reinforcing capacities and upgrading economies, although failed to decide how this would be incorporated into the final EPA text.
Both sides agreed to establish a Regional EPA Fund, which CEMAC wants to channel existing and future EU EPA support funds – including money for basic infrastructure and human development and for new and specific financing to address new needs that will arise from implementation of EPAs. Moreover, CEMAC called for a compensation mechanism to be established which would redress the initial loss of customs revenue.
While the Commission agreed the Fund could
[click here to read more]
West Africa (ECOWAS)
West Africa 's preparations for its market access proposal have been accelerated recently, in a bid to establish a Common External Tariff (CET) before the end of the year. Following technical level negotiations between ECOWAS, the EU Commission and the Regional Preparatory Task Force (RPTF) in June. West Africa 's consultations are continuing on their response to the EC's market access offer, but discussion provided greater clarity on the two sides' positions. West Africa reported on progress in preparations on its market access offer and gave a timetable for finalising a Common External Tariff this summer. This lays the basis for a full market access offer agreed with all ECOWAS members at the end of the summer.
[click here to read more]
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
SADC and EC EPA technical experts and senior officials level negotiators met from 21-24 June and exchanged market access offers (on SADC side, for SACU only at this stage) and draft EPA texts (including a SADC Non-Paper on Rules of Origin and SADC EPA Draft Texts on SPS and TBT and an EC Draft Consolidated EPA Proposal). A joint session of the technical RPTF also took place. The SACU market access offer includes South Africa and seeks to accommodate BLNS sensitivities arising from its SACU membership which because of the TDCA effectively means it has already started liberalizing its markets. SADC called for BLNS and MAT to …
[click here to read more]
Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA)
ESA-EC technical and ambassadorial level negotiations were held in June which made some progress in bridging positions in key EPA areas though much work remains to be done. Discussions focussed on market access and development issues. ESA informed the EC that it maintains that development should be reflected in sector specific chapters (agriculture, fisheries and others) of an EPA and also in a separate chapter on development cooperation. The development matrix defining the accompanying development measures, mechanisms and modalities for implementation should be annexed as an integral part of the EPA with legal standing as a way to operationalise the development cooperation chapter. Both sides agreed that the joint development matrix listing accompanying measures which ESA wants to have financed and mechanisms for implementation, is a useful instrument for programming resources for supporting the implementation of EPA, but negotiations must continue to further prioritise areas of cooperation and specific actions for each sector and on reach agreement on whether and how to include legally binding reference or
[click here to read more]
Caribbean (CARIFORUM)
Difficult discussions within the region continued in April and May with a view to reaching a political agreement on the region's approach to tariff liberalisation issues in the EPA negotiations. An informal meeting of Chief negotiators in May, however, allowed for discussions on the key areas of continuing divergence of views in the negotiations including the approach to tariff liberalisation and also the nature of parties to the agreement (individual Member States or as a region), binding commitments on EC development cooperation and good governance on taxation issues.
[click here to read more]
Pacific ACP Trade Ministers, National Authorising Officers and the Regional Authorising Officer met in May and adopted a “Red Lines” paper which sets out the minimum requirements for an EPA with the EU . The paper covers offensive and defensive interest in EPA negotiations in trade in goods, trade in services, fisheries and in investment and related financial instruments.
The Pacific calls for Duty Free and Quota Free (DFQF) market access to be provided to all Pacific exports from the entry into force of the EPA. just as important, and for that market access to be beneficial, it must be accompanied by improved Rules of Origin that recognise the smallness and isolation of the Pacific Member States in setting the criteria for originating status of manufactured or processed goods, and provide Pacific producers with effective options for sourcing inputs from least-cost suppliers. [click here to read more]
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News: Highlights of the Month
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* EU to abolish Caribbean sugar quota and price regime by next month
Dennise Williams, The Jamaica Observer, 10 August 2007
"The EU Commission has declared that the Sugar Protocol, under the terms of which sugar has been exported to the EU by ACP countries since 1975, is to be renounced at the end of September 2007, with a view to its ending on 30th September, 2009 ," announced Karl James, president of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean .
--> see also:
* EC Market Access offer in Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAS)
Sugar: Transitional arrangements 01/01/2008 - 30/09/2015
--> see also:
* EU's 'About Face' on Sugar Protocol
Phil Pascal, The Guyana Chronicle, 16 July 2007
The Trade Commissioner of the European Union (EU), Mr Peter Mandelson, has made an “about-face” on his earlier commitment of December 2005 to “safeguard benefits” of the Sugar Protocol between Europe and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) sugar exporting countries.
This development is rightly viewed within the ACP as a betrayal of trust and one that could prove quite a costly blow for Guyana and its other sugar exporting allies.
--> see also:
Reaction by EU Commissioners:
* Why has the EU proposed to end the EU-ACP Sugar Protocol?
Comment by Commissioners Peter Mandelson, Louis Michel and Mariann Fischer Boel, The Guyana Chronicle, 25 July 2007
--> see also:
Reaction by CARICOM Ministerial Spokesperson on Sugar:
* Is this partnership, or what?
Henry B Jeffrey, Minister of Foreign Trade & International Cooperation of Guyana , CARICOM Ministerial Spokesperson on Sugar, Letter to the Editor, Guyana Chronicle 30 July 2007
EPAs are about trade liberalisation, but a liberalisation rooted in a developmental perspective. […] One would have hoped that at this late stage […] we would be in the process of designing truly developmental arrangements. But the approach and offer that is being made in the case of the Sugar Protocol (SP) show that this is far from being the case.
--> see also:
Summary comparing Jeffrey's reaction and the statement by the EU Commissioners:
* ACP group calls for sugar protocol benefits in new trading arrangement
--> see also:
Another comment on the CARIFORUM-EPA negotiations and the sugar protocol:
* David vs Goliath battle
Rickey Singh, The Jamaica Observer, 12 August 2007
With the clock ticking away on the impending signing, by year end, for a new "economic partnership" between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, this region's negotiators are warning against an old European tactic of "divide and rule" that must be strenuously resisted.
--> see also:
* Why the new EU sugar trade offer is unfair for ACP countries
Mrinal Roy, 17 August 2007
As part of the current negotiations for new Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, the EU has made a questionable offer on market access for sugar to all ACP countries. What may seem on the surface like a generous gesture by the EU actually represents a disadvantageous trade-off.
* EAC states avert major dispute over trade agreements with EU
The EastAfrican Online, 19 August 2007
A major dispute between partner states of the East African Community has been averted after the parties agreed that all the five members will now collectively sign one Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union when the current Cotonou pact governing trade between the EU and the ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) countries expires at the end of this year.
The decision to negotiate under one roof was reached at a meeting of permanent secretaries and technocrats for trade and regional co-operation held in Arusha last week, ahead of a crucial meeting of the presidents of the region to be held on Monday this week.
--> article also available at http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=9393
* Lobbies Want Talks On EU Trade Pacts Held Up for Three Years
John Mbaria, The Nation, Nairobi , 19 August 2007
Civil society groups in Africa have called for the suspension of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiations between the European Union (EU) and the 77 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries for at least three years to allow African governments to critically look through other regional initiatives they are already engaged in.
* Mauritiania to make ECOWAS comeback
afrol News, 17 August 2007
Mauritania is few miles away from making a comeback in the regional economic block, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the desert country's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Mohamed Saleck Ould Mohamed Lemine, spills the beans.
The Arab-Maghreb Union [that was bent on promoting the superiority of minority Arabs in Africa ] finally succeeded in convincing Mauritania to pull out of ECOWAS in 1999. Mauritania is so far the only country that does not enjoy membership in the regional economic bloc.
But after a working session with the Chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Mauritanian officials are more than convinced that the country has missed a lot of benefits for pulling out of the regional body.
* Africa to sign EU market-access pact first
The East African, 13-19 August 2007
With barely five months to the expiry of the current trade arrangement between the European Union and Africa , Pacific and Caribbean countries, the East and Southern Africa region will sign only parts of the new trade pact, the Economic Partnership Agreement.
* West Africa : Ecowas, EPAS and Singapore Issues
Ken Ukaoha, This Day, 14 August 2007
On July 16, the West African Ministers of Trade, Finance, Economic Planning and Regional Integration met under the auspices of the Ministerial Monitoring Committee (MMC) to discuss the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between West Africa and the European Community. On regional integration, the Ministers took note of the preparation by both Commissions, of regional competition and investment policies and recommended that the policies be submitted to the ECOWAS decision-making bodies for adoption.
It would be recalled that the EU has been pressuring and insisting that negotiations on these two items are inevitable for guarantee of development in through the EPA. Many from the region have been calling for ECOWAS to succumb to pressure from the EU, forgetting that many member-countries do not even have competition and investment policies; and no common framework on these items.
* African countries stand to gain from EPAs
Eugene Jernigan, tradeafrica.blogspot.com, 12 August 2007
African Heads of State and trade ministers face the difficult task of deciding whether to sign the controversial Economic Partnerships Agreements (EPAs) or not as the December 31 deadline gets closer.
On the surface, Africa stands to lose in the new trade deals, but on closer examination, the continent will benefit greatly.
* Africa: 'No EU Pressure On Africa'
Jennifer Dube , Zimbabwe Standard, 12 August 2007
Addressing journalists at a Reuters Foundation workshop in Nairobi , David Nalo, the trade ministry's permanent secretary, dismissed as misconceptions sentiments that the EU was forcing African countries to finalise the deal before the end of this year.
" Europe has not pushed the 31 December 2007 deadline on us," he said. "It is part of the Cotonou agreement that we all agreed to and signed. The deadline was jointly agreed." Nalo said African states were eager to beat the deadline as they were negatively affected by the delayed conclusion of the new plan, known as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)." If we have finished 70% of it, we will put that on the table and sign it, because the world is not ending on 31 December. Whatever is remaining . . .we will negotiate and engage with the EU on how we deal with parts that are not concluded."
* EPA talks in final stages
Fiji Times, 9 August 2007
The African Caribbean Pacific Group is in the final stages of negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union, says Pacific ACP chairman, Hans Joachim Keil. Mr Keil, who is also the Samoan Associate Minister for Commerce, Industry and Labour, said under the Cotonou Agreement under which the EPA is based, the agreement should be completed by the end of the year. He said they were hopeful of resolving and finalising all issues within the next five months before the deadline on December 31.
*Pacific-EU trade talks back on track
Radio Australia , 03 August 2007
Negotiations for a free trade agreement between islands of the Pacific and the European Union are now back on track. Trade ministers of the Pacific members of the Africa Caribbean Pacific group say they are happy with the EU's clarification of their position on trade negotiations. Our reporter, Samisoni Pareti, says the Pacific bloc has now withdrawn its threat to suspend trade talks with the EU. The deputy prime minister of Samoa , Misa Telefoni, says the Pacific has achieved what it wanted.
The European Commission has now categorically stated they are not attaching any conditions to negotiations for an economic partnership agreement, or EPA, with the Pacific.
The Commission has also promised in a letter, written by Europe's ambassador in the Pacific, Roberto Ridolfi, that development aid of 95.3 million euros ($US130 million) promised by Europe for the Pacific will not be cut if no EPA is signed by the deadline of December 31. Minister Telefoni was critical however of accusations by Ambassador Ridolfi that Pacific ministers misread the EU position. Mr Telefoni says Pacific ministers are educated enough to understand the veiled threats and conditions contained in the communication sent by electronic mail from EC headquarters in Brussels earlier in the week.
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see also: South Pacific, European Union aid funds wrangle ends
International Herald Tribune, 3 August 2007
A funds wrangle between the European Union and 14 South Pacific nations ended Friday after the EU assured regional trade ministers it never intended to cut development aid funding in a dispute over an economic partnership deal, officials said.
--> see also: Pacific May Halt Trade Talks With EU
Forbes.com, 2 August 2007
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see also:
Several letters exchanged between EU and South Pacific officials concerning the relation between 10 th EDF regional programming and the conclusion of an EPA can be found at: bilaterals.org, 6 August 2007
-->
see also: Pacific Islands Forum press release
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see also: European Commission press release
* Make poverty history - if not now, when?
Letter from President Thabo Mbeki, ANC Today, Volume 7, No. 30, 3-9 August 2007
President Mbeki puts the EPA negotiations in the context of two speeches by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Gordon Brown addressing development and poverty, which were held on 26 and 31 July respectively.
*Accords de partenariat économique : Jusqu'où résistera la société civile?
Le Faso.Net, 1er août 2007
Par la force de mobilisation des organisations de la société civile africaine, les Accords de partenariat économique sont en passe de devenir l'un des processus de négociation nord-sud les plus médiatisés de cette décennie. Pas une réunion où les organisations paysannes, surtout, n'évoquent le danger que constituent ces accords pour les producteurs et, au-delà, les pays africains. Pour l'une des premières fois, des Africains ont pu rivaliser avec l'Occident en matière de publicité sur un phénomène.
Certes, il y a eu le combat pour un commerce international juste du coton conduit par quatre pays africains, mais la portée de cette opération était limitée en raison du nombre réduit de pays concernés directement par le problème. Ce qui n'est pas le cas des 75 pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du pacifique appelés à signer les APE. Ce vaste mouvement à la fois africain et transcontinental est aussi porté par des organisations d'Europe, ce qui lui apporte un surcroît de visibilité. La lame de fond anti-APE, partie d'Afrique occidentale, s'étend aujourd'hui au centre du continent.
--> article also available at http://www.fasopresse.net/article.php3?id_article=11070
* Kenya now optimistic about EU's Dec 31 trade pact deadline
Catherine Riungu, The EastAfrican, Business, 30 July – 05 August 2007 edition
In a marked departure from its past stance, the Kenya government is optimistic that a trade agreement to replace the Cotonou Partnership Agreements between European Union members and the African, Caribbean and Pacific states, which lapse this December, will be in place.
* European Commission Dragging Feet On EPAs - ESA Countries
Shadrack Kavilu, allAfrica.com/East African Business Week, 30 July 2007
With barely five months left to crucial trade negotiations, East and Southern African (ESA) countries are accusing the European Commission (EC) of delays in responding to proposals already presented to them. ESA countries say the EC's reluctance is a scheme to exert pressure and coerce them to expeditiously and blindly sign Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of the year.
* EU offers banana tariff cut to soothe Latin America
Flexnews, 30 July 2007
EU negotiators have offered to cut import duties for Latin American bananas, hoping to placate major exporters like Ecuador and Panama and persuade them to drop international trade suits, industry sources said on Monday. In a bid to halt the litigation and the likelihood of a full-blown "banana war", the Commission has proposed two options for cutting the tariff. "One option depends on if there's a Doha deal and the other on if there's not," one industry source said. "It's about a 'landing rate' of 123 euros a tonne over five years," he said.
-->
see also: * COMMENTARY: U.S. Gone Bananas
Ronald Sanders, Huntington News Network, 14 July 2007
In a most remarkable development following closely on the heels of a meeting in Washington between US President George W Bush and heads of government of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) States, the United States has taken an action at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that will hurt the economies of Caribbean banana exporting countries.
The United States , which does not export bananas, lodged a complaint on June 29, 2007 to the WTO against the banana importing regime of the European Union (EU) saying that it harms exports from Latin American nations such as Ecuador , Honduras , Panama and Nicaragua.
--> see also:
* The DSB establishes a compliance panel on bananas
World Trade Organisation, 12 July 2007
The Dispute Settlement Body, on 12 July 2007 , established a compliance panel to examine the EC's banana import regime (DS27). The US said more than a decade after this dispute began the EC still appeared not to have come into compliance with the DSB's recommendations. The US said this was the reason why they requested the panel. The EC said it was an unfortunate move by the US and questioned the US 's interest in this case as the US is not a producer or exporter of bananas.
*Négociations APE : Les experts africains se cherchent encore….
Passerelles, ICTSD. Vol. 6, Numéro 7, 30 Juillet 2007
Le comité ministériel de suivi des APE s'est réuni à Accra du 12 au 16 juillet 2007. Cette rencontre n'a pas été le rendez-vous du non. Mais le "oui aux APE" n'est pas non plus à l'ordre du jour. D'ici l'échéance de décembre, les experts vont encore essayer d'y voir plus clair. De quoi décevoir une société civile qui se bat pour un "non" immédiat aux APE.
Les conclusions de cette réunion ne permettent pas de dire ce qui se passera le 31 décembre 2007, quand arrivera l'échéance pour la signature des Accords de partenariat économiques (APE). "Il n'y a pas eu de décision ou d'orientation politique claire sur la décision à prendre", déclaraient mardi des responsables des organisations de la société civile qui se sont mobilisées dans une campagne de dénonciation de ces accords. Certains dénoncent le manque de visibilité sur les positions officielles.
Derrière ce flou se cacheraient des divergences de position quant à l'issue finale des négociations.
*Concluding the Economic Partnership Agreements: prospects and challenges for the Central Africa (CEMAC) regional negotiating group
Durrel N. Halleson, Yaoundé , Cameroon , 26 July 2007
On Monday 16 July 2007 , EU and CEMAC Negotiators met in Yaoundé to advance on the EPA negotiations. On the sideline of the meeting was a public manifestation by CSOs of the region to raise public awareness and especially that of the EU Negotiators on the likely impacts on EPAs on the development prospects of the region.
With just less than six months to the dateline for the conclusion and signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and the six negotiating regions of the African Caribbean Countries (ACP), much uncertainty still looms. The question now in every lip is how realistic could the agreement be concluded by December 2007 and ACP countries are still to be convinced that the EPAs would enhance their external trade with the EU.
*Accords de partenariat économique: Les parlementaires, un obstacle de taille
Amadou Sidibé, Les Echos, Afribone, 23 juillet 2007
Dans plusieurs pays, les parlementaires ont été tenus à l'écart des négociations sur les Accords de partenariat économique (APE). Pourtant, ils ont la responsabilité finale quant à l'application ou non des fameux accords. Dans leur rôle de représentant du peuple, ils doivent exiger la transparence et la responsabilité dans le processus.
Les gouvernements des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest sont en train de subir une très forte pression de la part de l'UE en vue de conclure les APE avant le 1er janvier 2008. Cette pression, de l'avis de nombreux observateurs, fera que certains gouvernements, pour des « intérêts inavoués », finiront par céder et signeront ces accords dits de « partenariat économique ».
Si les gouvernements de nos Etats font fi des préoccupations de leurs populations, les parlementaires eux peuvent et doivent être le garde-fou contre ces APE. En tant que gardiens de la législation, ils ont un rôle déterminant dans l'application ou non des fameux accords qui n'ont qu'un seul objectif : déverser dans nos économies des produits européens qui vont venir concurrencer dans le marché des Africains.
*CEMAC, whither to with EPAs?
Enga Kameni, Windhoek , Namibia , 21 July 2007
"These are not free trade agreements in the way anyone understand them. They are development tools, trade and Aid working together to deliver sustainable growth" Peter Mandelson, EU Trade Commissioner. The above is one of the high profiled empty speeches, characteristic feature of EU trade diplomacy.
When Mandelson made the above speech, I came to the conclusion that I have witnessed the highest degree of hypocrisy since I came into this planet earth.
*Dans une rencontre avec l'UE à Yaoundé, la CEMAC discute des accords de partenariat économique sans la RDC Faustin Kuediasala, Le Potentiel, République Démocratique du Congo, 20 juillet 2007
Flouée, marginalisée, mise à l'écart. Les mots manqueraient sans doute pour qualifier ce qui se passe actuellement à Yaoundé entre l'Union européenne et la Communauté économique et monétaire des Etats de l'Afrique centrale, en rapport avec l'entrée en vigueur en janvier 200 des Accords de partenariat économique (APE). Alors que la Rdc négocie les Ape dans le cadre de la zone formée par la CEMAC, plus Sao Tomé&Principé, à Yaoundé sa présence n'a pas été jugée nécessaire. Pour quelle raison ? C'est au gouvernement de répondre à cette question. Plus rien ne se dit ces derniers jours au sujet de la participation de la RDC, dans le cadre de la zone formée par la CEMAC plus Sao Tomé & Principé, aux négociations des Accords de partenariat économique avec l'Union européenne. Car, tout dernièrement à Yaoundé au Cameroun, la CEMAC a été en concertation avec une délégation de l'Union européenne sans que la RDC ne soit associée aux discussions. A Kinshasa, l'on banalise le sujet. Pourtant, ces APE, censés entrer en vigueur en janvier 2008, contraindront la RDC à opérer de très grands changements dans la structure, pour le moins fragile. Qu'est-ce qui s'est donc passé pour que la RDC brille par son absence à Yaoundé?
* 'Aid for Trade' May Cut Health, Education Funds
David Cronin, Inter Press Service ( Johannesburg ), 20 July 2007
African governments are worried that funds from the European Union (EU) to help them increase their countries' share of world trade could be at the expense of other forms of development aid. […] In May, the EU's governments and the Commission committed themselves to granting 2 billion euros (2.75 billion dollars) in annual aid for trade by 2010.Although EU officials say that ACP countries will receive the bulk of that money, some African diplomats are unimpressed. They allege that the most powerful EU institutions have not yet explained precisely where the money will come from, or allayed concerns that it may not be additional to aid that could be used to finance sorely needed investments in health and education. […] Katrin Jansen, a programme assistant with the Brussels-based organisation Women in Development Europe, said EU officials have admitted that they plan to increase aid for trade without increasing the overall amount of development assistance provided by the Union .
* DRC not in attendance at CEMAC negotiations. Awaiting outcome?
Faustin Kuediasala, Le Potentiel, 20 Juillet 2007
Car, tout dernièrement à Yaoundé au Cameroun, la CEMAC a été en concertation avec une délégation de l'Union européenne sans que la RDC ne soit associée aux discussions.
Tout se passe comme si la RDC ne s'intéressait pas vraiment à la mise en oeuvre de ces accords, attendant bras croisés que les autres concluent les négociations pour voir ses conclusions lui être opposes.
*ECOWAS under fire
Suleiman Mustapha , The Statesman Online, Ghana , 17 July 2007
Civil Society Organisations from the Sub region meeting in Accra to draft recommendations and proposals on the controversial free trade agreement with the European Union for the consideration of African Trade Ministers forum underway in Accra have accused the ECOWAS Secretariat of betrayal. At their meeting over the weekend, the group representing various interests in the sub region burnt the midnight oil to agree on certain issues to be considered by their Ministers in their negotiations with the European Union on the yet to be signed Economic Partnership Agreement. According to the group, the sub regional body is deliberately thwarting their effort at negotiating for a fair and balanced trade pact with the EU.
* Des produits très “ sensibles ” / West Africa having difficulties defining sensitive products (article available in French only)
Le Messager, Journal N° 2414, 17 Juillet 2007
D'ici fin juillet, selon l'Union européenne (Ue), les pays Acp (Afrique-Caraïbes -Pacifique) devraient avoir établi la liste des "produits sensibles" (Ps) qui bénéficieront de mesures spéciales dans le cadre des Accords de partenariat économique (Ape). […] L'Afrique de l'Ouest demande, elle, trois ans pour définir la liste de ces biens agricoles ou industriels qui, selon l'Organisation mondiale du commerce, sont source de “ sécurité alimentaire, d'emplois et de développement ”, notamment dans les pays pauvres.
* CARIFORUM divided on liberalisation issue - Economic Partnership Agreement under threat
Dionne Rose , Jamaica Gleaner, 17 July 2007
A disagreement among the members of CARIFORUM, which represents the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic , could cause a delay in the group completing negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The issue relates to the degree of liberalisation and, in the case of some countries, whether they will be called upon to give any reciprocity. This applies especially to the least developed countries such as Belize and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, which usually get non-reciprocity. But under the agreements, all participants in the agreement have to participate in liberalisation.
* “ Nous devons respecter notre parole en signant les Ape en décembre ” / Cameroon EPA negotiator says CEMAC EPA to be signed in December (article available in French only)
Le Messager, Journal N° 2413, 16 Juillet 2007
Maximin Emagna, expert et négociateur mandaté par l'Etat du Cameroun pour conseiller le gouvernement dans la négociation des Accords de partenariat économique, présente ses avantages pour l'Afrique centrale.
* Cameroun : Les Ape feraient mûrir la banane / Cameroon banana producers support EPAs (article available in French only)
Lazare Kolyang, allAfrica.com/Le Quotidien Mutations, 13 Juillet 2007
Les producteurs camerounais de la banane regroupés au sein de l'Association bananière du Cameroun (Assobacam) sont unanimes. Pour préserver les 200 milliards d'investissement, les 650 hectares de surfaces cultivées, les 11 000 emplois directs ainsi que les 36.000 emplois induits, le Cameroun a intérêt à signer les accords de partenariat économique (Ape)[…].
*Southern Africa : EU Official 'Creating Rift'
David Cronin, Inter Press Service ( Johannesburg ), 13 July 2007
A top European Union official has been seeking to create divisions between South Africa and its neighbours in talks aimed at establishing a free trade deal, African diplomats have alleged. Karl Friedrich Falkenberg, the deputy-director general for trade at the European Commission, is said to have recommended that measures against firms from South Africa should be contemplated by governments from its bordering countries.
*Southern Africa : Trade Talk Deadline Closer, But EU And SADC Far Apart
Brigitte Weidlich, The Namibian ( Windhoek ), 9 July 2007
TRADE negotiations between Southern Africa and the European Union are progressing slowly and some sectors might not even be agreed on by the end of the year, when the signing of the trade agreement is to take place. "We don't want to be made to choose between access for our goods to the EU and regional integration in southern Africa ," Andrew Ndishishi, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry said.
*African leaders cautioned on EPAs
Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako , The Statesman Online, Ghana , 02 July 2007
Africa Trade Network and Economic Justice Network of Ghana , both civil society organisations have issued a strong warning to African Governments to desist from signing up on the EU-led Economic Partnership Agreements aimed at establishing a new WTO compatible trading arrangement, removing progressively barriers of trade between EU and Africa .
The Free Trade Agreements will eliminate trade barriers on more than 90 percent of EU-Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific trade within the shortest possible transitional time period.
The Europe 's EPA agenda opens up African markets to highly subsidised European products and that will further deepen the crisis faced by domestic industries which will lead to loss of jobs and livelihoods.
* July 2007: Africans fear ‘ruin' in Europe trade talks. Opposition grows to more inequitable trade liberalization
Gumisai Mutume, A frica Renewal, Vol.21 #2, July 2007
Worries about the possible impact of ongoing "free trade" negotiations between Europe and its former colonies in Africa , the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) are beginning to galvanize public debate in the region.
* APE : Levée de boucliers contre les APE : Les ONG et Agriculteurs ouest africains intensifient le combat à six mois du délai prévu pour la signature d'un APE / West African farmers threaten election boycotts to prevent EPA signing (article available in French only)
Passerelles, Volume 6, Numéro 6, 30 Juin 2007
Les organisations paysannes et ONG des pays membres de la CEDEAO ont montré encore une fois leur désapprobation quant à la signature d'un APE entre la région et l'UE, en marge de la réunion des commissaires et ministres de la CEDEAO qui s'est tenu a Ouagadougou, au Burkina Faso du 30 mai au 5 juin 2005.
Les paysans font un appel à la CEDEAO de ne pas signer ces APE et ont brandit l'arme du boycott des élections comme moyens de dissuasion/persuasion si les dirigeants de la sous région ne prennent pas en compte leurs exigences.
*EU pressuring ACP to conclude negotiations
Caribbean News, 27 June 2007
The European Union has again called on African Caribbean and Pacific nations to conclude new trade deals, to replace an accord expiring this year. EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said today he didn't think delaying these new accords would help the 78-nation ACP bloc. Commissioner Michel was speaking at the 13th annual EU/ACP joint parliamentary assembly being held in Germany.
*Comesa Intensifying Talks With EC On EPA Rules of Origin
BuaNews (Tshwane), Lusaka , Zambia , 26 June 2007
With six months remaining for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) says it has intensified discussions with the European Commission (EC) on the rules of origin.
*Pour une dispense de l'OMC pour les pays ACP
Afrique en ligne, Accra, Ghana, 21 juin 2007
Le ministre ghanéen du Commerce et de l'Industrie, Alan Kyerematen, a invité les pays d'Afrique, des Caraïbes et du Pacifique (ACP) à demander à l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) une dispense pour éviter la signature d'un Accord de partenariat économique (APE) défavorable avec l'Union européenne (UE) d'ici la date-limite du 31 décembre de cette année. "A moins de le faire nous courrons à l'impasse d'ici la fin de l'année sans une dispense et sans un accord commercial alternatif qui va exister entre l'UE et les pays ACP", a-t-il déclaré à la presse à Accra mercredi.
Selon le ministre, sans une dispense et une alternative claire pour remplacer le régime actuel, les négociations sur les APE pourraient se retrouver bloquées.
* Namibia: Country Opposes SA-EU Market Expansion
Wezi Tjaronda, New Era, 21 June 2007
Namibia has opposed attempts by the European Commission to have South Africa expand its markets access for EU products beyond the Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement (TDCA). An arrangement of this nature has the potential to displace Namibia 's exports to South Africa , which is the country's most important trading partner in terms of both imports and exports.
Minister of Trade and Industry, Immanuel Ngatjizeko, said in a speech that was read on his behalf by Namibia Investment Centre's executive director, Bernadette Artivor, that in addition to the South Africa/EU TDCA impacting on Namibia negatively, the free trade agreement was a violation of the SACU agreement.
See also acp-eu-trade.org's News section, updated every week!
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Selection from www.acp-eu-trade.org's Library
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*Weighing the options - Key Issues in the Proposed Pacific-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement
Barry Coates and Nick Braxton, Briefing Note Prepared for the Pacific Trade Ministerial Port Vila , Vanuatu 31 July- 1 August 2007
This paper aims to provide Pacific governments, civil society and members of the public with analysis aimed at clarifying some of the key decisions that need to be taken on the way forward in these negotiations, recognising that Pacific businesses and people need to have assurances about future trading arrangements as soon as possible.
*The ACP Sugar Trade with the EU
European Research Office, July 2007
Summary of the reform of the EU sugar regime, the EC'S April 4th 2007 market access offer, projected trends in the EU sugar production, consumption and trade and of the framework for future EU sugar imports from the ACP.
*Legal Aspects of the Negotiations, ratification and entry into force of the Economic Partnership Agreements
Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (tralac), 3 July 2007
The Dutch Foreign Ministry has provided funding to support tralac's provision of a legal opinion service on issues that are relevant to a broader range of stakeholders in the east and southern African region.
*Concluding EPA negotiations - Legal and institutional issues
ECDPM, Policy Management Report 12, June 2007
This study reviews the legal commitments and institutional arrangements necessary for the timely conclusion of the EPA negotiations and their application by 2008. It also considers the legal and institutional consequences of the failure by an ACP country or EPA regional grouping to sign an EPA by the end of 2007 or to later ratify it. It is not the purpose of this study to assess whether EPAs should be concluded or not, nor by what date. Nor does it intend to assess the merits of an EPA or any alternative trading arrangement.
EN
FR
*Regionalism and Development: The European Neighborhood Policy and Integration a la Carte
Bernard Hoekman, The Journal of International Trade and Diplomacy 1 (1), Spring 2007:1-55
This paper examines some of the consequences of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) for eligible countries, and more generally, reflects on possible lessons and implications of extending the ENP “model” to other fora of North-South regional economic cooperation such as the EPAs. The questions posed are what can (should) be done in the context of such “deeper integration” agreements to ensure that development objectives are supported.
http://www.jitd.com.tr/dtmadmin/upload/EAD/KonjokturIzlemeDb/JITD/volume_1/Bernard_Hoekman.pdf
*Protecting health in the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between East and Southern African (ESA) countries and the European Union
EQUINET / SEATINI, Equinet Policy Series No. 17, co-published by Equinet and the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), June 2007
An Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is being negotiated between East and Southern African countries (ESA) and the European Union (EU). The final agreement is due to be signed in December 2007. The EPA is likely to impact on health, on public revenues for health and health care, including access to medicines, and to affect other inputs to health such as food security. Without a proper health impact assessment these impacts are not easily quantified and ESA countries are urged to take a precautionary approach and safeguard health in the EPA. This policy brief outlines the ways in which the EPA may affect health and the measures that ESA can take to protect health within the EPA. While it is focused on the EU-ESA EPA, these impacts and measures have wider general relevance to trade agreements.
* Accords de partenariat économique et dynamique des flux commerciaux régionaux / Economic Partnership Agreements and Regional Trade Flow Dynamics: The ECOWAS Case
Benoît Faivre Dupaigre, Vanessa Alby-Flores, Borgui Yerima, Ann Vourc'h, Agence Française de Développement, Working Paper No. 39, June 2007
FR : Cette étude porte sur l'impact, en termes de développement, de la mise en place des Accords de partenariat économique. Basée sur un examen précis des échanges intrarégionaux de six pays de la CEDEAO, elle prouve que le démantèlement tarifaire n'est pas une condition suffisante à la levée des « entraves aux échanges ».
EN : This study aims to study the development impact of the implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements. Thanks to close scrutiny of intraregional trade within six members countries of ECOWAS, it proves that tariff dismantlement is not a sufficient condition for the removal of “impediments to trade”.
*Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and African countries: Potential Development Implications for Ghana
Mayur Patel, Realizing Rights, The Ethical Globalization Initiative, Report, June 2007
Assessing the impact of an EPA on Ghana 's economy is not straightforward given that what will go into the agreement is still under negotiation. In addition, what the agreement must include for it to be compatible with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules remains ambiguous due to the stalling of the Doha Round, which was slated to clarify the special and differential treatment developing countries are entitled to in concluding regional trade agreements. Notwithstanding this, the proposed EPA framework that the EU is currently pushing for in negotiations has raised serious concerns about the impact an EPA will have on Ghana 's efforts towards poverty eradication, regional integration and economic development. This report concludes that: • An EPA will not meaningfully improve access to the EU market for Ghana 's exporters beyond what they already enjoy. If...
*Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) and Human rights / Les Accords de partenariat économique (APE) et les droits de l'Homme
Position paper - June 2007 – FIDH (Fédération Internationale des ligues des droits de l'Homme)
Historical Background – Human rights in EC and ACP Agreements – EPAs and Human rights – Possible impacts of EPAs on human rights – Agriculture – Services – Intellectual Property – Investments – Singapore Issues – Recommendations
EN
FR
*Comparative Study of the Impact of Fisheries Partnership Agreements
S.F. Walmsley, C.T. Barnes, I.A. Payne, C.A. Howard, Technical report prepared by MRAG for the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Department for International Development (DFID), May 2007
This study evaluates the European Commission's revised policy on access arrangements, specifically the move from FAs to FPAs. The aim was to assess if they are more likely than FAs to meet the 2004 Council Conclusions on the proposed approach. The study further provides a framework to monitor the transition from FAs to FPAs, as well as qualitative performance indicators for their potential to deliver the Council Conclusions.
* EPA Negotiations in the Central African Region: Some Issues for Consideration
South Centre Analytical Note, June 2007, Geneva , Switzerland
This Analytical Note explores some of the main challenges that the countries of the EPA Central African region face in the EPA negotiating process, including with respect to its interfaces with WTO negotiations. After reviewing some major production and trade patterns of the region, it highlights the region's concerns in trade negotiations in an effort to increase negotiators' understanding about the EPA developmental implications.
* The ACP experience of preference erosion in the banana and sugar sectors. Possible policy responses to assist in adjusting to trade changes
ICTSD - Programme on Agricultural Trade and Sustainable Development, Project on Topical Products, Issue Paper No.7, May 2007
This Issue Paper on “The ACP experience of preference erosion in the banana and sugar sectors and possible policy responses to assist in adjusting to trade changes», by Paul Goodison, is intended as a contribution to the discussion on trade-related adjustment under A4T. The purpose of this paper is to situate the process of preference erosion in ACP-EU trade relations in the context of internal EU policy adjustments designed to prepare the EU agricultural and food products sector for trade liberalisation at the multilateral and bilateral levels. The paper seeks to analyse the sources and impacts of preference erosion on ACP banana and sugar sectors and reviews the experience of the EU policy response to the impact of preference erosion in ACP economies and societies. It also seeks to draw lessons from the various experiences of the policy response to preference erosion in the different circumstances faced in ACP countries, with a view to identifying the elements which could form part of a more comprehensive A4T approach to assisting ACP economies and societies in meeting the challenges thrown up by the ongoing process of both trade liberalisation and preparations for trade liberalisation within the EU and the consequent process of preference erosion.
* Sustainability Impact Assessment of the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements– key findings, recommendations and lessons learned
Report on the Sustainability Impact Assessment carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the European Commission, May 2007
This document is a summary of the key findings, policy recommendations and lessons learned, derived from the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) of the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union (EU) and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. It is aimed at trade negotiators and other policy makers in both the EU and in the ACP countries.
EN
FR
* Intellectual Property Provisions in European Union Trade Agreements - Implications for Developing Countries
ICTSD Intellectual Property and Sustainable Development Series, June 2007
This paper attempts to describe the European Union's (EU)25 policy regarding intellectual property rights (IPRs) in past bilateral trade agreements and how we may be witnessing a turning point in its approach.
The EU is currently involved in negotiations with, among others, six regions within the group of ACP countries. An EU proposal to one of these sub-groupings, the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), surfaced at the end of 2006 and included comprehensive IP provisions. Notably, this proposal departs from the IP chapters that have been seen in almost 30 existing EU agreements. The EU has moved from the former model […] of essentially seeking accession of its trade partners to multilateral IP conventions, to negotiating far more elaborate chapters on intellectual property.
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Resources from Recent Events
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* Event: PIPSO 2007 Pacific Islands Business Forum, Nadi , Fiji
Date: 6-7 August 2007
Theme: ‘ Pacific Businesses – At the Threshold of Regional and Global Competition '
Resources:
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Island Business interview with James Movick, Chairman, Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO)
--> Regional cooperation and integration key to private sector development , press statement, 6 August 2007
--> Region gears up for leading business forum, joint press statement, 9 July 2007 .
* Event: ESA-EPA: Opening of the 12th Regional Negotiating Forum Meeting, Le Morne , Mauritius
Date: 3 August 2007
Resources:
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Information by the government of Mauritius
--> see also:
*Event: South Centre Side Event at Eastern and Southern African Regional Negotiating Forum , Mauritius
Date: 3 August 2007
The South Centre held a round-table dialogue at the margins of the 12th Regional Negotiating Forum of the EPA ESA region on the topic of EPA market access negotiations in Eastern and Southern Africa : what options for the way forward? The dialogue was organised with the support of OXFAM International.
http://www.southcentre.org/Events/2007Aug_Side_Event_Mauritius.htm
* Event: PACP trade ministers discuss update on EPA negotiations with the EU, Port Vila , Vanuatu
Date: 31 July– 1 August 2007
Resources:
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Pacific Islands Forum press statements
On EPA in general:
http://www.forumsec.org/pages.cfm/newsroom/press-statements/2007/pacp-trade-ministers-discuss-epa-negotiations.html
On the development dimension of an EPA:
- Development dimension must not be compromised on any EPA with the EU
- EPA need to deliver PACP's development objective
On the 10 th EDF (see also News section: *Pacific-EU trade talks back on track for an exchange of views between the PACP and the EU) :
PACP trade ministers gravely concerned and disappointed about EU's linking the 10 th EDF to the EPA
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see also:
* Event: Pacific ACP senior trade officials discuss EPA negotiations with EU, Port Vila , Vanuatu
Date: 25 July 2005
Resources:
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Pacific Islands Forum press statements
- Pacific ACP Senior Trade Officials discuss EPA negotiations
- Pacific ACP Senior Trade Officials urged to have hope in EPA negotiations with EU
* Evénement: Comité Ministériel Commerce Conjoint sur l'APE UE-Afrique Centrale, Yaoundé, Cameroun
Date: 16 juillet 2007
Ressources:
--> Communiqué final
--> Discours de Louis Michel, Commissaire européen au Développement et à l'Aide humanitaire
* Event: ESA Parliamentarians Map out Strategy on EPA Negotiations, Addis Ababa , Ethiopia
Date: 6-7 July 2007
Close to 60 Members of Parliament from the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) region met in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia on 6th and 7th July 2007 , to discuss progress on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Negotiations between the ESA region and the European Commission.
Resources:
--> COMESA newsletter, Issue #112
* Event: Capacity-Building Workshop on the West African EPA negotiations and linkages with the WTO, Dakar , Senegal
Date: 6-7 July 2007
The South Centre, in collaboration with OXFAM International held a two-day capacity-building workshop in Dakar, Senegal on the "Western Africa EPA negotiations and their linkages with the WTO".
Resources:
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Background documents, presentations, list of participants and report
* Evénement: Séminaire d'information et de concertation des Acteurs Non Etatiques de l'Afrique Centrale sur les APE, Douala, Cameroun
Date: 4-5 juillet 2007
Ressources:
--> Déclaration finale
--> Communiqué de presse
* Event: Les défis du développement rural des pays ACP- 1er Briefing sur le développement à Bruxelles / Challenges to Rural Development in ACP Countries - 1st Brussels Development Briefing
Date: 4 juillet 2007
FR Dans le cadre des débats sur les questions de développement ACP-UE à Bruxelles, le CTA, avec autres partenaires, a organisé un 1er Briefing sur le thème «Les défis du développement rural des pays ACP». La bonne nouvelle est qu'il semble que l'agriculture et le développement rural soient à nouveau des priorités de l'agenda international.
EN CTA and other partners organised the first ‘Brussels Development Briefing' - part of a series of discussion meetings on ACP-EU development issues.
Documentation/Resources:
--> Rapport de la conférence / Report of the meeting
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Documentation détaillée / Detailed documentation
-> Site Internet: http://briefingsbruxelles.wordpress.com
-> Website: http://brusselsbriefings.net
* Event: 28 th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
Date: 1-4 July 2007
The meeting approved a plan to create a single regional trading market by 2015 and ease implementation hurdles.
The decision on the US$250m Regional Development Fund (RDF) was postponed after it was agreed that the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank was not the right agency to administer the RDF on the region's behalf since its strict lending charter could prevent some member states from accessing RDF funds. No decision has yet been made on the mechanism under which the fund would be managed.
On EPAs, the final communique states: “In respect of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2007, the Conference noted progress to date and the challenges that the Region's technicians and negotiators continue to face. It re-emphasized the need for the EPA to provide clear development benefits for Caribbean economies individually and for the Region as a whole, while allowing special flexibilities for the LDCs of the Region, and for it also to benefit and support economic operators in the Region. The Conference reaffirmed its position rejecting inclusion of provisions on good governance with regard to taxation issues in the EPA.
The Conference also called on CARIFORUM Sugar and Banana stakeholders to meet urgently in order to assess and determine their positions for the EPA negotiations in light of EU proposals and developments with unfavourable implications for these products from the Caribbean .”
Resources:
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Final communiqué
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Summary of the results by the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM)
* Event: 11 th Ordinary Session of the AU Executive Council, 28-29 June 2007, Accra , Ghana
Date: 28-29 June 2007
Element of the 9th African Union Summit , 25 June - 6 July 2007
Resources:
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Decision on the status of the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union
EN
FR
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Website of the 9 th AU Summit
--> see also: * Pressure groups to hold mass protests at AU summit
Suleiman Mustapha, The Statesman, 26 June 2007
As Accra gets set to host the African Union Summit next week, Civil Society Groups and other Pressure Organisations are also adding to the menu of the summit, trade agreement issues on the agenda of Heads of States and Governments. Pressure groups have started arriving in Accra in earnest and holding seminars and workshops, sensitising participants drawn from various organisations including the media on the dangers of the Economic Partnership Agreement.
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see also: * AU Summit ends with no consensus on US of Africa
Naomi Schwarz, Somaliland Times, 3 July 2007
On the last day of the African Union Summit in Accra, African students from across West and Central Africa protested what they say are detrimental trade agreements with developed countries.
* Event: Challenges of the SADC EPA negotiations
Date: 26 June 2007
ECDPM, SAIIA, RTFP Conference
Resources:
Find all relevant information on www.ecdpm.org/trade/sadcconference .
This includes:
--> the presentations by the speakers
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the final list of participants
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the papers displayed on the table
--> other interesting papers
The report states: The conference left the overall impression that time is running out and that, although there is commitment to the process by both the SADC EPA countries and the EC, giving substance to the agreement in the short time left is going to be extremely difficult. Although progress has been made on the market access aspect of the agreement, the parties are still far apart concerning the inclusion of services and the new generation issues of investment and government procurement. On development, the two parties still have not agreed on a common approach. Hopefully the parties can agree on a way forward in order to smooth the transition at year-end and to ensure trade between SADC and the EU will increase and not be disrupted with the expiry of the WTO waiver.
--> see also: Difficult deadline: Challenges of the SADC EPA negotiations, by Talitha Bertelmann-Scott, in Trade Negotiations Insight, Vol. 6, No.4
* Event: 13th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Date: 23-28 June 2007
The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) held its 13th session from 23 to 28 June in Wiesbaden , Germany . A prominent issue on the agenda were the Economic Partnership Agreements.
Resources:
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Resolution on poverty reduction for small farmers in ACP countries
EN FR
--> Agenda EN FR
--> All meeting documents EN FR
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Press release on the debate on EPAs EN FR
--> Composition and working methods EN FR
* Event: 2nd EC-SADC EPA Negotiation Round, Walvis Bay , Namibia
Date: 21-23 June 2007
Resources:
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Report by SEATINI
* Event: SADC-EU EPA Seminar, Windhoek , Namibia
Date: 20 June 2007
Information Seminar organised by the European Commission
Resources:
--> Speeches and presentations
--> Comment on the seminar by Richard Kamidza, published by SEATINI
* Event: Regional Dialogue on Trade, Fisheries Negotiations under WTO/EU-ACP EPA and Sustainable Development in West Africa, Praia, Cape Verde
Date: 19-20 June 2007
Organised by International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in collaboration with ENDA DIAPOL, Ministry of Fisheries of Cape Verde , The National Institute for the Development of Fisheries (INDP), Cape Verde , and Network on Fisheries Policies in West Africa (REPAO)
Resources:
-->
Documents
* Evénement : 32ème sommet des chefs d'Etat et de Gouvernement de la CEDEAO, Abuja, Nigéria
Date: 15 Juin 2007
Les chefs d'Etat et de Gouvernement de la CEDEAO ont tenu ce 15 juin leur 32ème sommet à Abuja, la capitale politique du Nigéria. De nombreuses importantes questions y ont été abordées au rang desquelles celles relatives à l'intégration régionale et à l'Accord de partenariat économique avec l'UE.
Resources:
--> Article dans Passerelles, 30 Juin 2007
* Evénement: Atelier Régional du Secteur Privé de l'Afrique de l'Ouest sur les APE, Cotonou, Bénin
Date : 4-6 juin 2007
Information et Echanges pour une participation plus efficace du Secteur Privé dans les négociations commerciales et le processus APE, organisé par la Chambre de Commerce et Industrie du Bénin.
Ressources:
--> Déclaration finale
-->
Toutes les communications de l'atelier
* Event: Strategic Retreat of African Ambassadors accredited to Belgium and to the European Community
Date: 2-3 June 2007
African Ambassadors accredited to Belgium and to the European Community in Brussels , held a two-day strategic retreat largely dominated by the on-going negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the ACP group of countries. The retreat was held in Oostende , Belgium , and was co-organized by AU and ATPC, Economic Commission for Africa. The retreat also dealt with the joint Africa/EU strategy.
Resources:
-->
Report in UNECA's ATPC News, June 2007, Vol.2, Number 5
* Evénement: Actions de mobilisation de ROPPA a l'occasion d'une réunion de la CEDEAO
Date : 30 mai-5 juin 2007
FR : A l'occasion d'une réunion des commissaires et des ministres de la CEDEAO du 30 mai au 05 juin 07, le ROPPA en collaboration avec la CPF et des organisations civiles du Burkina Faso (Associations pour le Développement de la Jeunesse en Afrique (ADJA), Ligue des Consommateurs) ont organisé du 29 mai au 05 juin 07 des actions de mobilisation et de plaidoyer pour montrer l'intérêt des organisations paysannes et de la société civile pour les politiques en débat, mais aussi leurs inquiétudes et préoccupations quand à leur orientation actuelle, notamment la négociation d'un APE entre la CEDEAO, la Mauritanie et l'UE.
EN : In parallel to the meeting of ECOWAS taking place in Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso , the Network of Peasant and Agricultural Producers' Organizations of West Africa (ROPPA) and the Peasant Confederation of Faso (CPF), in collaboration with civil society organizations of Burkina Faso (Association for the Development of Youth in Africa (ADJA), Consumers League of Burkina...) organized a series of activities.
Resources:
-->
FR Mémorandum du ROPPA, de la CPF et des organisations de la société civile du Burkina sur l'integration régionale et les négociations pour l'APE
-->
EN Memorandum of ROPPA, CPF and civil society organizations of Burkina on regional integration and negotiations for APE
-->
Tous les documents (available in French only)
* Event: Conference on Civil Society and the Joint EU-Africa Strategy
Date: 23-24 April 2007
Resources:
-->
Conference documentation and other reports drafted in the first phase of the public consultation on the joint EU-Africa Strategy (February-May, 2007)
--> Outline of Joint EU-Africa Strategy (approved at the Ministerial Troika meeting on 15 May)
Check our website for more events and resources! http://www.acp-eu-trade.org
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Copyright: ECDPM 2007