ISDS Case Map
ACP
Asia, Caribbean, Pacific Group
African and European civil society groups are urging European citizens to put pressure on their governments to halt regional trade agreements between the European Union and developing countries.
Unable to get its own way through the World Trade Organisation, the EU is now shamelessly trying to corral some of the world's poorest nations into bilateral trade agreements that would severely disadvantage them.
Briefing Paper on the so-called EPA negotiations between EU and ACP countries within the framework of the Cotonou Agreement
The European Union is on the verge of implementing a series of free trade agreements and is leading a trade policy that can hold its own against the American policy.
Negotiators in the expected Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) with European Union (EU) will have to stand their ground if they are to give Namibia a better deal from the EU, -more especially if they do not want to give the country a replica of the Free Trade Area (FTA) component, to which the country is already subjected, under the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) that the EU has with South Africa.
The European Union will open talks this week to try to reach an economic agreement with the Pacific region, a big producer of sugar, the bloc's executive said on Wednesday.
Overview of Bilateral Negotiations 2004 involving Trade Agreements: State of Play 27 July
Throughout history, international trade has generated considerable controversy. While conceding that some trade was imperative, Aristotle observed that trade was disruptive of community life. Until the 19th Century, most European powers viewed trade as a form of undeclared warfare. Their objective was - and still remains - the maximization of benefits accruing to themselves and minimization of those accruing to rival nations. The weapons of choice in this warfare were import barriers.
Since 2002 the European Union (EU) and countries of the Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Group (ACP) have been negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
The liberalisation of trade between the EU and ACP countries through the current EPA negotiations will be detrimental to poverty reduction programmes and could even undermine the Cotonou Agreement itself. This is the conclusion of a new independent civil society study published by Eurostep and its partners from five ACP countries.
