West African EPA negotiations to continue in February
The scheduled 21 December ECOWAS summit, initially postponed to 18 January due to the illness of the current Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua, has been rescheduled for the 16th of February, in Abuja, Nigeria.
Heads of state are expected to consider the performance of West Africa’s economy and the 2009 ECOWAS work programme, the priorities of which include completing work on the creation of a customs union, the EPA negotiations and the development of agricultural policy.
The December West Africa-EC EPA negotiating rounds have also been postponed until February, as ECOWAS needs more time to prepare for the negotiations. A number of objectives have been set for the forthcoming talks, including to jointly examine the new West African market access offer (which is now supposed to have reached 70% product coverage) and to carry out the reconciliation of the statistical base. A range of outstanding issues are also on the agenda, such as rules of origin, regional levies, the MFN clause, the non-execution clause and agricultural subsidies.
No new deadline has been set for completion of the EPA negotiations, but the EC reported to the European Parliament in December that it hoped to keep up the negotiating momentum and finalise the EPA in early 2010. The EU continues to work on its response to the West Africa EPA Development Programme, and the region’s request for €9.5 billion in support. The EU’s response may be ready in time for the February round of EPA negotiations.
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