Economic Partnership Agreements: What has Africa gained and what can it lose?
ECDPM’s Isabelle Ramdoo writes that ACP countries were required for the first time to negotiate reciprocal, though asymmetric trade agreements, with a major – and developed – trading partner, the EU, giving birth to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). What have ACP countries gained more than what they already had and how fit are these EPAs in an evolving trading regime? If successfully concluded, the the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the U.S (and other mega-regionals) will set new benchmarks for the global trading system. The timing and the outcomes are, for the moment unknown, but there is no time for complacency. It is clear that the ‘do nothing’ or ‘wait and see’ responses on the part of the ACP are not a strategy. Similarly, the ‘reject’ strategy is not helpful either, because mega-trade deals such a TTIP will happen anyway, and there will be very little third countries can do about it. Finally, retreating into protectionism may accentuate the marginalisation of the ACP countries because isolation weakens further the capacity of states to transform themselves. It is therefore timely for ACP policymakers to forge strategic responses, by taking bold steps within their own intra-regional trade agenda, as a way to mitigate the ‘tsunami effect’ of mega trade deals. It may also be appropriate to build strategic alliances with other non-participating countries, in order to take the lead at the WTO to address some of the issues that might affect the global trading system once those mega-trade deals are agreed. Version française
Loading Conversation
ECDPM’s Isabelle Ramdoo writes that ACP countries were required for the first time to negotiate reciprocal, though asymmetric trade agreements, with a major – and developed – trading partner, the EU, giving birth to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). What have ACP countries gained more than what they already had and how fit are these EPAs in an evolving trading regime? If successfully concluded, the the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the U.S (and other mega-regionals) will set new benchmarks for the global trading system. The timing and the outcomes are, for the moment unknown, but there is no time for complacency. It is clear that the ‘do nothing’ or ‘wait and see’ responses on the part of the ACP are not a strategy. Similarly, the ‘reject’ strategy is not helpful either, because mega-trade deals such a TTIP will happen anyway, and there will be very little third countries can do about it. Finally, retreating into protectionism may accentuate the marginalisation of the ACP countries because isolation weakens further the capacity of states to transform themselves. It is therefore timely for ACP policymakers to forge strategic responses, by taking bold steps within their own intra-regional trade agenda, as a way to mitigate the ‘tsunami effect’ of mega trade deals. It may also be appropriate to build strategic alliances with other non-participating countries, in order to take the lead at the WTO to address some of the issues that might affect the global trading system once those mega-trade deals are agreed. Version française
Loading Conversation
ECDPM’s Isabelle Ramdoo writes that ACP countries were required for the first time to negotiate reciprocal, though asymmetric trade agreements, with a major – and developed – trading partner, the EU, giving birth to the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). What have ACP countries gained more than what they already had and how fit are these EPAs in an evolving trading regime? If successfully concluded, the the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the U.S (and other mega-regionals) will set new benchmarks for the global trading system. The timing and the outcomes are, for the moment unknown, but there is no time for complacency. It is clear that the ‘do nothing’ or ‘wait and see’ responses on the part of the ACP are not a strategy. Similarly, the ‘reject’ strategy is not helpful either, because mega-trade deals such a TTIP will happen anyway, and there will be very little third countries can do about it. Finally, retreating into protectionism may accentuate the marginalisation of the ACP countries because isolation weakens further the capacity of states to transform themselves. It is therefore timely for ACP policymakers to forge strategic responses, by taking bold steps within their own intra-regional trade agenda, as a way to mitigate the ‘tsunami effect’ of mega trade deals. It may also be appropriate to build strategic alliances with other non-participating countries, in order to take the lead at the WTO to address some of the issues that might affect the global trading system once those mega-trade deals are agreed. Version française
Loading Conversation
