ICCO announces the report ‘Dialogue of the Deaf’

Researcher Christina Weller carried out a survey under official negotiators from several developing countries, who have been directly negotiating EPAs (European Partnership Agreements) on behalf of their countries. These interviews reveal that their concerns and proposals are not being listened to, and that they are being put under pressure to opening up the economies of their countries to free trade. They also state that the European Union conveys the impression that their countries will only continue to receive development aid if these countries sign EPA’s. The European Union has always denied that development aid is being used as a lever, and portrays itself as a partner willing to subordinate its own commercial interests to the regional integration and national development of partner-countries.

ICCO recommends that in the framework of the Economic Partnership Agreements developing countries be given more room to decide their own time frames for opening up their markets to competition from Europe. In order to develop local markets, especially for food products, national governments must retain the policy space to shield these from unfair outside competition. In addition, Europe should make available funds to strenghten local markets and institutions in these countries. Support for regional integration should not be “traded” against opening to European exports, but aimed at creating the right conditions for economic development and regional integration. This will grant partner countries the opportunity to strengthen viable economic sectors before opening up to external competition ICCO calls on the EU member states, the members of both the European and the national parliaments and civil society organizations to keep a close watch on the EU’s trade negotiations – be it in the WTO, EPAs, Association Agreements or its bilateral free trade agreements – and to make sure that the EU starts pursuing a more coherent development agenda.