Designing a Monitoring instrument for EPAs: Methodological issues

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the European Union (EU) countries have agreed to negotiate new WTO-compatible Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that should not be an end in itself, but be first and foremost instruments for development, as provided for by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA). While these new free trade arrangements offer new development opportunities, they also create serious challenges to the ACP. To ensure that the development dimension of EPAs is fulfilled, it is therefore of prime importance to closely monitor both the negotiation and implementation of these new partnership agreements.

A monitoring instrument for EPA negotiations and implementation has been suggested by many actors in both the ACP and the EU, with the aim of assessing the progress of EPAs against the goals set out in the CPA and the development objectives of the ACP countries and regions.

Photo By ILRI