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Newsletter n.6 April 2009
EU Parliament Make New Push on EPAs
The EU has demonstrated renewed vigour in its push to ink Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, with a flurry of activity at the European Parliament. On 25 March, the European Parliament voted to support an interim EPA with Côte d’Ivoire. The same day, European lawmakers also passed resolutions affirming their resolve to continue work on agreements with a number of other states and partnerships within the Pacific and African regions, including the East African Community (EAC) and the South African Development Community (SADC).ACP‐EU Parliamentary Assembly ask for flexibility
The ACP‐EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Georgetown said while implementation aspects of the Cariforum trade deal were not yet fully explored, there must be restraint on the part of the EU since structural changes are needed for this region to benefit fully. In that light, members called for flexibility in implementation as well as a review if necessary of certain clauses in the Agreement. And to this end members welcomed the establishment of the EPA Implementation Unit at the Caricom Secretariat since in their view it will need to have regular consultation with Caribbean national parliaments, according to the final communiqué.Do not sign an EPA in light of the Global Financial Crises
On Wednesday 1st April 2009, at a hurriedly organized and poorly attended stakeholders’ consultation meeting, officials from the Ministry of Trade announced that they would advise the Minister, Hon. Amos Kimunya to sign an Interim Economic Partnership Agreement (IEPA) with the European Commission (EU). Attached a statetement signed by several Kenya Civil Society Organisations’ including Kenya Human Rights Commission‐KHRC; SEATINI, East African Coalition on Rights‐EACOR; Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute‐Seatini; Kenya Debt Relief Network‐KENDREN; Social DevelopmentNetwork‐SODNET; ACORD: ECONEWS Africa “The Interim EPA makes binding commitments requiring the government to fully liberalize our markets. By signing this agreement the country is bound to continue and conclude negotiations on even more contentious issues that go above the WTO mandate.Africa, trade, and the crisis: a stimulus package for Africa
The current global downturn is a crisis emanating from advanced economies rather than from bad policies on the part of Sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries. African economies will nevertheless be affected through a variety of international trade‐related channels, including reduced commodities prices and exports receipts, foreign direct investment and equity flows, exchange rate fluctuations, and remittances. Trade is already shrinking, growth declining, and unemployment rising. The associated losses for SSA countries are forecasted at over USD 50 billion in 2008‐2009. Unless appropriate solutions are identified and swiftly implemented, the crisis risks undermining the achievements of three decades of policy reform, thus further reducing the possibility of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Fortunately, such solutions exist that could even turn the crisis into opportunity for African countries.Jamaica could become regional economic hub under EPA
Jamaica could become the business and industrial hub of the Caribbean and the Americas, thanks to the opportunities presented under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), signed recently between CARIFORUM States and the European Union (EU). Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr Ken Baugh, outlined a massive vision of economic growth and development for the island, to be stimulated by direct European investment, at the first Jamaica United Kingdom (UK) Investment forum, staged by Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI), in London, on February 5.Aid for Trade and EPAs: Commissioner Ashton in Zambia 5‐7 April
EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton visited the Zambian capital Lusaka from the 5th to 7th April, to participate in a round table on Aid for Trade as part of a North‐South Corridor financing conference. Donors, International Financial Institutions, and representatives of Eastern and Southern African governments and regional organisations decided on further assistance to remove infrastructure constraints blocking trade and economic growth in the region.Impacts and fears (1): Cameroon
The EU and Cameroon have signed a 'stepping stone' Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the first of its kind between the EU and a Central African trade partner. Louis Paul Motazé, Cameroon's Minister for the Economy, Planning and Land Settlement and Peter Thompson Director of Development and EPAs in DG Trade at the European Commission signed the agreement in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé. The agreement combines the benefits of a trade agreement with development assistance targeted at accelerating growth and development in Cameroon. The final goal remains to conclude a full EPA with all the members of the Central African region that will promote competitiveness, growth and investment whileaccelerating regional integration.Impacts and fears (2): South Africa
The European Union (EU) is likely to move towards the official signing of an interim economic partnership agreement, known as an EPA, with countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that will exclude South Africa. A meeting in Swakopmund, Namibia, between the European Commission (EC) and the SADC group failed to break an impasse over concerns SA has, despite significant further concessions by the EU to sweeten the deal. A source close to the talks, who declined to be named, said it was likely the EC would ask to be given the go‐ahead to prepare to sign the interim deal as all attempts to bring SA back into the talks had failed. This will see Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland sign the deal, leaving SA, the only other member of the Southern African Customs Union, out of the deal.EPAs: the state of play
Central Africa: A work plan for the next stages of the EPA negotiations and finalisation of the 10th European Development Fund’s Regional Indicative Programme have been the focus of Central African and European Commission officials’ work since their February round of negotiations. West Africa: West Africa tabled a draft regional market access offer to the EU for liberalisation of 60% of EC imports over 25 years (2010 à 2034) at joint technical and senior level EPA negotiations from 16 to 20 February in Dakar. Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA): National and regional level preparations continue up to ESA Ministers meeting that could be arranged on the sideline of the AU Trade Ministers held in Addis Ababa 16‐20 March and the ESA‐EC Ministerial. Joint technical negotiations can then resume depending on the outcome of these meetings. EAC: An information seminar on Services and Investment in EPAs for the EAC region was held from 16 to 17 February 2009 in Dar es Salaam. SADC: Eight of ten of the outstanding contentious issues in the negotiations on the signing of the SADC IEPA were resolved at make or break joint meetings of technical and senior EU‐SADC officials meetings from 9‐11 March 2009 in Swakopmund. Caribbean: Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Heads of Government gave the mandate to coordinate Caribbean Member States’ implementation of EPAs to the CARICOM Secretary General at their meeting from 12‐13 March 2009 in Belize City. Pacific: With a view to breaking the current deadlock in Pacific‐EU EPA negotiations, Hans Joachim Keil, Samoa Trade Minister and Pacific Leadspokespeson for EPA Negotiations wrote to European Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton on 10 March 2009 proposing to hold a Joint Technical Working Group meeting in late March early April in Brussels to seek convergence on outstanding technical issues (MFN treatment, export taxes, infant industry provisions, etc) to the greatest extent possible.Baroness Ashton welcomes European Parliament support for EPAs
The European Parliament has signalled its support for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Caribbean countries and the interim EPA with Côte d'Ivoire. Following the vote in the Parliament, EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton said: "I welcome the Parliament's vote on the Economic Partnership Agreements. It is an important political signal that the European Parliament has given its assent to the first examples of a new generation of agreements that safeguard the EU's special relationship with the ACP. I look forward to continuing the close cooperation with the Parliament on this issue, as well as on many others."Swimming against the tide: How developing countries are coping with the global crisis
In 2009 the global economy will contract for the first time since World War II, according to a recent World Bank released study. What’s worse, for developing countries, the World Bank growth prospects in this newest report are dismalEU and US push for Doha deal, closer bilateral trade ties
EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and the newly appointed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk met in Washington DC. They issued the following joint statement following their meeting.Seattle to Brussels Network statement for the G20
The S2B network sent an open letters to EU trade negotiators asking them in concrete if “liberalisation of financial services in free trade agreements undermine G‐20 and EU attempts to regulate financial markets and tax havens?”.Global Review on Aid for Trade 2009, Issues and state of implementation in Africa: Does Supply Meet Demand?
This paper is extracted from a background study conducted by Stephen Karingi and Michael Fabbroni of the UNECA entitled The Reality of Aid for Trade in Africa: Does Supply Meet Demand? The background study has been prepared under the auspices of the Africa Aid for Trade Working Group comprising of African Development Bank, Economic Commission for Africa and the World Trade Organisation.April: Next EPA negotiation rounds:
- TBA 1st CARIFORUM EPA Council meeting
- TBA Pacific‐European Commission technical negotiations, Brussels
- TBA Mauritius‐European Commission EPA signature, Mauritius
- 1‐3 April: 16th Session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly, Prague
- 3 April: SACU Council, Maseru
- 4 April: ECOWAS/WAEMU EPA negotiation meeting, Abuja
- 4‐9 April: 17th Session of the Joint ACP‐EU Parliamentary Assembly, Prague
- 6 April: ESA‐European Commission ministerial meeting, Lusaka
- 6‐7 April: ‘International financing conference’, North‐South corridor pilot Aid for Trade programme, Lusaka
- 14‐16 April: RPTF and donors’ meeting on EPA development programme financing, Abuja
- 20 April: Central Africa‐European Commission EPA Negotiations, Brussels (TBC)
- 20‐23 April: ESA‐European Commission technical negotiations meeting, Brussels (TBC)
- 20‐24 April: Caribbean trade officials and ministerial meeting (COTED) (venue TBC)
- 21‐24 April: ECOWAS/WAEMU workshop on West Africa‐European Commission EPA (venue TBC)
- 28 April: 12th Africa‐EU ministerial troika meeting, Luxembourg
- 28 April‐7 May: West Africa‐European Commission technical and senior negotiations, Brussels (TBC)
News
The Partnership for Change on-line activities now include a YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/PartnershipforChange), with a 10-video playlist, as well as a blog section within the main website (www.africa-eu.org/): to participate in the blog please log-in/register (www.africa-eu.org/user/register) and visit www.africa-eu.org/Community (please write new messages as BlogPost).
Partnership for Change project has two thematic focus connected to the heart of development policies and the struggle against poverty.
MDGs and EPAs, central themes of the project, were indeed both created as development policies: the first one, with the aim of committing governments in the South and in the North on punctual development objectives to be reached by 2015, the second one, proposing economic agreements of free trade as an access point to development for many ACP countries.
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