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III. News: Highlights
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EPA Negotiations: Where do we stand?
*EPA Negotiations: Where do we stand?
ECDPM, Last update: 3 March 2008
For an overview of the initialled agreements and the state of negotiations in each region visit www.acp-eu-trade.org/epa
*La négociation des APE: Etat des lieux
ECDPM, dernière mise à jour : 3 mars 2008
Pour une vue d’ensemble des accords paraphés ainsi que l’état des lieux des négociations dans chaque région, visitez notre page spéciale : www.acp-eu-trade.org/ape
From our News section:
*Sources indicate that the EC plans on completing EDF Regional Indicative Programmes (RIPs) in September. Draft RIPs would be shared with EU Member States in April and the EPA Regional Preparatory Task Forces (RPTFs) would be ongoing region by region with meetings open to EU Member States.
*The EC would like to have regional aid for trade packages in place by the end of the year. The EC is expected to produce a staff working document on aid for trade soon.
*Public consultation for an EC Communication on Regional Integration in ACP countries will take place from early March to early May, with a view to adopting the EC Communication in September. -> see Recent events: * Event:European Parliament Development Committee, 3 March 2008, discussion on the upcoming communication
*ECDPM is actively seeking to work with regional organisations on implementation of the EPAs
At this stage, and from a more technical point of view, we believe it is important for the African regions to systematically and thoroughly exchange on the content of the texts of the agreements on the table, in order to eventually import better formulated or more advantageous clauses from another text into their own.
In order to better grasp the challenges ahead, ECDPM and ODI are conducting a comparative analysis of the content of the agreements and their impact on the regions and countries concerned. The joint study, financed by the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs (DGIS/DDE), will also examine the possible scenarios for the way forward, from both a development and regional integration point of view, drawing on some of the lessons learned from the EPA negotiation process. The implications for aid modalities for the coming years will also be looked into. The report should be available in the second half of March.
As a facilitator, ECDPM is happy to support relevant activities in the aftermath of the initialling of interim EPAs and the way forward, and can help organise meetings to that end or facilitate contacts between ACP and EU key stakeholders. Please don't hesitate to let us know how we could best support you on this.
From ACP and EU news providers:
** All-ACP **
* How Europe Lost Africa
Dominic Johnson, Spiegel Online International, 28 February 2008
The pressure exerted by the European Union on African governments to sign new free trade deals, the continuing crisis over illegal migration, and a perceived reluctance of European institutions to engage with their African counterparts have created the impression that Europe is an unreliable partner for an Africa seeking to redefine its place in the world order. This crisis of mutual perception between Europe and Africa is real and, with hindsight, 2007 may come to be regarded as the year of missed opportunities -- the year when Europe finally lost the preeminence it once had in Africa.
*Les Ape ont « blanchi » le dumping de l’Union européenne
Gérard Choplin, Coordonnateur de la Coordination paysanne européenne, in Le Quotidien, Dakar, Sénégal, 27 février 2008
Interpellé à Bruxelles au moment où la Commission européenne est parvenue à convaincre certains pays Acp à signer des Ape intermédiaires, le leader paysan européen explique que ces accords sont autant rejetés par les paysans d’Europe qu’ils sont vomis par ceux des pays du Sud. Il ajoute à son refus des Ape, celui de voir des produits alimentaires servir à produire du carburant. Ses propos ont le poids d’une personne qui s’exprime au nom d’une vingtaine d’organisations paysannes, représentées dans une quinzaine de pays d’Europe, et regroupant plusieurs dizaines de milliers de membres. Et la crédibilité d’un des dirigeants de Via Campesina, organisation regroupant des structures paysannes du Nord comme du Sud.
* AU writes to José Manuel Barroso to ask for immediate resumption of negotiations on EPA at highest level
Agence Europe / groups.google.com, 22 February 2008
The African group of ambassadors to Brussels has welcomed the appeal launched by the African Union (AU) to reopen, at the highest level and without delay, discussions on the economic partnerships agreements (EPA), in line with the conclusions of the EU/Africa Summit of Lisbon last December. To date, however, there is nothing to indicate that on the European side, preparations to implement the promise made in Lisbon are picking up speed.
* EU: Deals with Africa a ‘PR disaster’
David Cronin, IPS, 26 February 2008
Thirty-five of almost 80 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries have so far signed Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU. The accords commit ACP states to removing most tariffs they levy on imported goods. Klaus Rudischhauser, director of ACP relations in the European Commission, said that the EU executive had always viewed these agreements as positive tools for economic development. "I'm still convinced that they are, but the problem has been a huge communications failure," he added.
* EPAs Born of EU’s Concern with China in Africa
Miriam Mannak, IPS, 26 February 2008
The European Union (EU) is concerned about competing with China for access to resources and markets in Africa, which partly explains its drive to hook African states into the trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs). According to Dr Rob Davies, South Africa’s deputy minister of trade and industry, the EU is afraid that it will lose its foothold on the African continent and wants to prevent this at all cost.
* EU EPAs Could Inhibit South-South Trade Integration, Brazil Alleges
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest - Vol. 12, Number 6, ICTSD, 20 February 2008
Brazil has alleged that a clause in the EU's recent trade agreements with several former colonies could discourage these countries, among the world's poorest, from pursuing deeper trade integration with other developing nations. This would run counter to a WTO principle aimed at increasing poor countries' participation in global commerce, Brazil claims, adding that it sits uneasily with the EU's oft-stated commitment to promoting South-South trade.
-> see * Statement by Brazilat the WTO General Council Meeting, 5 February 2008
Peter Draper, allAfrica.com, 4 February 2008
New trade agreements with Europe have raised legitimate fears for the future of African industry but offer new potential for two-way trade, buttressed by aid and "aid for trade" packages. Now trade talks turn to even more contentious issues, such as investment, intellectual property and trade in services, writes Peter Draper in the first of a new series of regular columns for AllAfrica from experts of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
All ACP Agricultural Commodities Programme, Newsletter No. 1, February 2008
The first newsletter issued by the Programme introduces readers to this new EU-funded programme, provides details on the major consultations being planned in the various ACP regions and gives some insights into the “Trade Opportunity Scans†being run by programme partners.
David Cronin, IPS, 31 January 2008
During a summit meeting of African and European Union leaders in Lisbon, Portugal, Barroso promised that there would be an opportunity to revise provisions in the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) signed between the two sides over the past few months. […]‘‘The president has committed to personally intervene,’’ a European Commission insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. ‘‘There are no dates yet. The feeling is that it’s a bit like a silver bullet, you can only fire it once, so you have to choose the right moment.’’
David Cronin, IPS, 29 January 2008
European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has distanced himself from a pledge to enable African countries revise a series of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) recently clinched with Brussels.
During last month's summit between EU and African leaders in Lisbon, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said that contentious clauses in these free trade accords signed before Dec. 31 could be opened for further discussion at a later stage.
But Mandelson said Monday he was not in favour of a fresh dialogue on deals already secured.
-> see also our Events section:European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson speaking to the European Parliament Development Committee
acp-eu-trade.org, excerpt from Julio Godoy, IPS, 26 January 2008
According to a study by the Paris-based Research Centre in International Economics (CEPII, after its French name), the impact of EPAs on ACP economies would be negative, if small.
On the one hand, the liberalisation of trade with the EU would represent a 22 percent growth of imports from Europe. But, if 20 percent of these new imports are blocked by the ‘‘sensitive products’’ clause, that growth would fall to 16 percent, representing some 3.5 billion euros in new imports from Europe. However, these new imports from Europe would substitute goods the ACP countries presently bring in from the U.S., Brazil, China, Japan and other countries, thus reducing the new trade debit balance for the ACP countries to 1.8 billion euros. As the CEPII notes, given that the ACP countries imported a total of 102 billion euros in goods and services in 2005, that new deficit is insignificant. More important is the ACP custom revenues loss due to EPAs, as estimated by the CEPII. These losses could go up 3 billion euros per year for the ACP countries, with individual impacts going on from five to 35 percent of the state budget.
Adama Dieng (Sous-Secrétaire général des Nations Unis, Greffier du Tribunal Pénal International pour le Rwanda), SudOnline, 22 janvier 2008
Je salue le courage et l’intelligence des Présidents Abdoulaye Wade et Tabo Mbeki, deux visionnaires du Continent, qui ont su prendre la tête de la croisade contre les Ape. Les relations inégalitaires de l’Afrique avec l’Ue n’ont pas toujours fait l’objet d’un effort scientifique destiné à trouver un juste équilibre taillé dans un vêtement juridique adéquat.
** Caribbean **
Clive Thomas, Stabroek News, 9 March 2008
The most disconcerting aspect of the EU's sleight-of-hand and regular re-packaging of aid envelopes to accompany new initiatives on behalf of poor countries is that the development dimension of the EPA can only be made secure if the EU makes its assistance commitments legal, time-bound, specific and subject to the legal provisions of the Dispute Avoidance and Settlement provisions in the EPA.
Trinidad & Tobago Express,8 March 2008
Caribbean Community (Caricom) Governments and the European Union will not be signing the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in April, as scheduled. They will instead sign the EPA two months later, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Keith Rowley said […]."There has been a little slippage with respect to the date for the signing of the EPA with the European Union... that's now pushed back down towards June because the technical people and the Secretariat had some more work to do in preparing the final document," Rowley said.
David Jessop, Jamaica Gleaner, 7 March 2008
This seemingly dry text is in fact of considerable importance not least because it will determine how the EPA is implemented, who will benefit, and how decisions will be made on its governance. According to some in the region, it also touches on issues of Caribbean sovereignty and may affect less directly the Caribbean relationship in the all-ACP Cotonou Convention with Europe.
David Jessop, Jamaica Gleaner, 29 February 2008
Of all the aspects of the recently initialled economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Europe, the one that remains the least defined is its development dimension.
This is because the EPA contains no guarantees about how trade liberalisation will benefit Caribbean society, nor does it detail when and how governments and the private sector are to receive support that will help them enhance their global competitiveness.
Havelock Brewster, Norman Girvan, Vaughan Lewis, Memorandum submitted for the consideration of the Reflections Group of the Caricom Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on 27 February 2008
We wish to make the following contribution to the deliberations of the Reflections Group on the CARIFORUM- EC Economic Partnership Agreement. We start by noting that the Statement by a Group of Concerned Citizens, to which we are all signatories, has been interpreted in some quarters to mean a defence of traditional export preferences. This is not the case.
Below we list several areas of concern that we have identified. Some relate to process and others to content. We conclude by setting out some options that may be available to the region.
Jamaica Gleaner, 27 February 2008
Director General of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and principal negotiator of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Ambassador Dr Richard Bernal, has stoutly defended the EPA between Cariforum and the European Union (EU). He declared that the accord was not a panacea, but represented the best trade pact the region could enter into at this time.
For a summary of different positions on the EPA expressed in the Caribbean, see:
Selwyn Ryan, Trinidad and Tobago Express, 24 February 2008
A major ideological and propaganda battle is currently raging within and across the Caribbean concerning the merits and demerits of the recently negotiated Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between CARIFORUM and the European Union. The battle is being waged on two fronts, one related to process and the other to what was won or lost at the negotiation table. Was the Agreement the best and only development game in town, as some claim, or a sell out by Caribbean negotiators and the governments who briefed them or failed to do so responsibly? There is a great deal of misinformation being strewn about, and it is difficult for outsiders to really know what is fact and what is really fiction.
and:
Rickey Singh, The Jamaica Observer, 10 February 2008
Fierce disagreements and divisions have emerged within the Caribbean Community over the recently concluded negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). Involved, publicly, are two heads of government, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo and Jamaica's Prime Minister Bruce Golding; some leading regional intellectuals and scholars; the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) and some 100 hundred signatories, including representatives of non-government organisations (NGOs) who have forwarded their concerns in a letter to the Community Secretariat last month (January 18).
Amitava Chaudhuri, Caribbean Net News, 7 February 2008
To begin with one needs to ask some questions. Was the EPA a result of WTO stipulations? Were its terms a result of the EU’s wish to empower the Caribbean people? Whatever the answers are, perhaps the implications of the EPA to both sides are not quite as they appear. At this juncture what is important is to note that so far achieving influence and market access through globalization, which manifests itself in several ways including though EPAs, seem to have had the net effect of helping only the developing world.
Starbroek News, 26 January 2008
A decision to have an independent review of the recently concluded Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations between CARIFORUM and the European Union (EU) has been taken by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED).
Jamaica Gleaner, 25 January 2008