Economic Partnership Agreements and Beyond – Volume 3, Issue 9 (October/November 2014)
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Editorial San Bilal - Head of Economic Transformation Programme, ECDPM and Isabelle Ramdoo (Guest editor), Deputy Head of Economic Transformation Programme, ECDPM
Everyone agrees: trade matters for development. There is also a general public consensus that trade is good, though with some scepticism on its impact of jobs, wages and prices, according to a recent world-wide survey by PEW Research Centre. The challenge however remains to identify the type of trade regimes and arrangements, at the multilateral, regional, bilateral and domestic levels, that best promote longer term sustainable ...
Political lead
Commissioner De Gucht on Economic Partnership Agreements Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are a mutually beneficial process that will frame the ACP-EU trade relations in the 21st century and anchor this privileged partnership solidly in the global scene.
The SADC EPA and Beyond Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, South Africa
After ten years of preparations and negotiations, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group and the European Union (EU) was finally ‘initialed’ by our Chief Negotiators on 15th July 2014 in Pretoria. The initialing of the Agreement signals that the negotiations are concluded ...
Trade without Trade-offs Bernd Lange, member of the European Parliament, Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and Chair of the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) present an opportunity to strengthen and foster intra-and inter-regional integration, an opportunity which should not be wasted. The long-stigmatised EPAs process has the potential to become a catalyst of improved Africa-Africa and Africa-EU political and business relations ...
Stakeholders take
The EPA: A Political Agreement Detrimental to Economic Development and Cooperation between Europe and Africa Kalilou Sylla, Executive Secretary ROPPA, Mamadou Cissoko, Honorary President ROPPA, and Marie Louise Cisse, Senior Advocacy and Gender Programme Officer with the Executive Secretariat ROPPA
During the 45th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State of the West African Community held in Accra on 10th July 2014, the 15 member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Mauritania officially approved the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). As a result of this decision, the ECOWAS represents the first African region to ...
Trade Prospects between France and Africa: The EPA and the Private Sector Etienne Giros, Deputy Chairman, Conseil Français des Investisseurs en Afrique (CIAN), and Patrick Sevaistre, CIAN Board Member
The recent approval of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and West Africa (which only just preceded the EU–southern Africa EPA) introduces fundamental changes to the prospects for trade relations between the two continents. In the present article, the Conseil Français des Investisseurs en Afrique (CIAN, French Council of Investors in Africa) outlines the methods and contents of the ...
Implementation Challenges: Insights from the first CARIFORUM-EU EPA Five-year Review Sacha Silva, Senior Economist at WTI Advisors
Since its signing in 2008, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) and the European Union (EU) has been the subject of intense scrutiny from academics, civil society, opinion-makers and policymakers. The agreement arguably cast a long shadow over the other EPA regions’ much-delayed negotiations with the EU, in their search for a final package that better reflected their own ...
Manoeuvering at the Margins of an EPA Deadlock: Will the EAC bow down to EU Pressure? Fredrick Njehu, Program Advisor-Trade Justice, Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
When the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states and the European Union (EU) signed the Cotonou Partnership Agreement on 23rd June 2000, both parties affirmed their commitment to work together towards the achievement of the objectives of poverty reduction, sustainable development and the gradual integration of the ACP countries into the world economy. In their elaborate preamble, both parties further reaffirm ...
In perspective
Situating Economic Partnership Agreements in Sub-Saharan Africa's Evolving Trade Landscape Peter Draper, Director, Tutwa Consulting and Senior Fellow, South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA)
While EPAs are finally being concluded, the global and African landscapes are being fundamentally reshaped by the connected phenomena of mega-regional trade negotiations and China’s rapid expansion into the continent. How can the major developed countries negotiating mega-regional and African deals, respond to these developments? ...
The Missing Link in President Obama's Africa Leaders Summit: Addressing the African, EU, US Conundrum Witney Schneidman, Nonresident Fellow, Brookings Institution
The Africa Leaders Summit, held in Washington in early August, marked a welcome and important turning point as trade and investment became a top priority in US-African relations. At the same time, this development has placed the US and the European Union (EU) on a collision course as it concerns trade with Africa ...
The Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement and the ACP EPA: A Common Fate? Laurent Law, Trade Policy Division, Government of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada
After more than five years of negotiations, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU was concluded on the 5th August and signed on the 26th September 2014. The agreement will now go for legal scrubbing and is expected to be implemented by both parties in 2016. CETA is expected to boost the Canadian economy by 20% in bilateral trade and a C$12-bn (about €8.5 bn) increase in ...
The Limits to Selling Free Trade: From Distributional to Normative Conflicts in EU Trade Policy Gabriel Siles-Brügge, Lecturer in Politics, University of Manchester
The increasing presence of normative rather than distributional conflicts in European Union (EU) trade policy is challenging the European Commission’s competitiveness-based rhetoric in defence of free trade ...
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Regulars EPAs: Frequently Asked Questions Monthly Highlights from ECDPM’s Talking Points Blog
