CEO on EPAs negotiations

March 23rd 2009 sees the start of a marathon ballot in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the EU’s push for Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The two-day vote will include several resolutions plus votes on the assent to the two agreements signed with governments so far. Information obtained by CEO through access-to-documents requests shows that the EU Commission not only relied on arm-twisting Southern governments to push these agreements forward. DG Trade also put considerable energy into orchestrating African business support for its own negotiating aims.