Printable version
Newsletter n.8 July 2009
Papua Nuova Guinea and Fiji signed an I EPA
Papua Nuova Guinea and Fiji signed an I EPA that was first initialled at the end of 2007. Fiji also initialled the Agreement in 2007 but decided to sign at a later stage. The agreement focuses on trade in goods and includes important provisions on rules of origin for the fisheries sector. The agreement was signed today by 2 EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton on behalf of the European Commission, Mr Anders Ahnlid, Director General for Trade, on behalf of the Swedish Presidency of the EU and The Hon. Samuel Abal, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration on behalf of Papua New Guinea.West Africa EPA negotiations deadline extended from June to October 2009
West African Heads of State and Government welcomed the progress made with the EPA negotiations in the areas of trade in goods and development cooperation related to the EPA at their meeting in Abuja on 22 June 2009. They recalled the region’s commitment to the conclusion of a balanced agreement, focused on development and emphasised the need to continue with the regional approach to the negotiations.EU-West Africa Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): negotiators meet in Dakar (Senegal)
Talks about the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the West African region took place in Dakar (Senegal) from 16 to 23 July 2009.EAC states demand development deal before signing EU trade pact
28/07/2009 - Member states of the East African Community (EAC) are demanding an independent deal on development assistance before they sign a framework for new economic partnership agreements (FEPA) with Europe.Calls for Namibia not to sign interim-EPA hold merit, says analyst
A number of Namibian civil society organisations, as well as the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), have supported the government’s decision not to sign the interim Economic Partnership Agreement (I-EPA) with the European Union (EU), amid concerns that it caused discord among Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) member States.Europe’s abusive EPA condemned as it tears Africa apart. Now, Africans are hitting back at Europe
Thursday 4 June 2009 - The Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA continues to cause controversy and division among African regional block groupings. After the recent criticism of the European agreement by African trade experts in Johannesburg, African governments are beginning to speak up and demand for fairer trade dealsReport of the Africa Union on the State of Play in EPAs Negotiations
The report of an African Union EPA Negotiations Coordination Meeting that was held on 22-23 July in Gaborone was published on the acp-eu-trade websiteThe document provides, inter alia, an overview of the state of play of the negotiations and the main areas of conflicts.NGOs welcome the new MEPs: let’s discuss our concerns
Just before the first convening of the European Parliament’s Committees on Trade ("INTA") and Development ("DEVE"), EU CSOs send two EPA papers to the members of the two committeesACP, EU set early 2010 deadline for concluding EPA talks
William Haomae, co-president of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and foreign affairs and external trade minister of Solomon Islands, reiterated ACP EPA demands at a meeting of the Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers meeting held on 29 May 2009 in Brussels.EU Council confirms commitment to reach 2010 Aid for Trade target despite delays
The EU Council adopted conclusions on 18 May 2009 which welcome the fact that, even though the deadline for meeting its Trade-Related Assistance target has not been reached, the EU is already close to meeting its collective pledge of 2 billion EUR and reaffirms its commitment to reach its 2010 target.LDCs need new development path in wake of crisis
Geneva, 17 July -- The least developed countries (LDCs), hit the hardest by the current global economic crisis, need a new development path, with the State playing a greater role, and adopting an incremental approach for building "new developmental States", according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).Turning African Agriculture into a Business
Africa-Europe business relations in the agriculture and agribusiness sectors are the focus of this OECD report.Declaration of the Platform of West African Civil Society Organizations on the Cotonou Agreement (POSCAO-AC)
EPA Negotiations: West Africa must not accept a headlong rush! On June 17, 2009, West African chief negotiators and those from the European Union came to the conclusion that it was impossible to conclude the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).G8 Summit “L’Aquila” Joint Statement on Global Food Security
The heads of state as well as government, international and regional organisations approved the L’Aquila Initiative on Global Food Security on 10 July 2009. Their objective is to invest US$20 billion in three years to encourage rural development in developing countries.Comparing safeguard measures in regional and bilateral agreements
The EPA agreements do not contain any special safeguard provisions, but the bilateral safeguard mechanism has been extended to include certain agriculture products. The problem with this type of agreement is that its application is very broad and that the agreements are all silent on the manner in which ‘serious injury’ or ‘serious disturbances’ is determined.Scenarios for West African Region EPA Negotiations
This publication by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, presents four possible outcomes of current trade negotiations to establish an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the West African Region and the EU.
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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