ISDS Case Map
EAC
There's a strong feeling among experts in East Africa that by insisting on the inclusion of the "most favoured nation", the EU is holding the region at gunpoint to accept a clause that would legally tie their hands regarding who to trade with besides Europe.
Ministers from East Africa Community Partner States and the European Commissioner for Trade met in Brussels on 30th January 2014 to conclude three days of negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement.
Twenty-six eastern and southern African nations are making progress toward agreeing on a free trade area that will create a market with nearly 600 million people and combined gross domestic product of $1 trillion, South African President Jacob Zuma said.
Three regional economic communities in Africa -- COMESA, EAC and SADC -- are expected to sign an agreement this year to establish an enlarged market covering 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa.
The East African Community ministers responsible for EPA negotiations with the EU have agreed to use diplomacy to resolve the outstanding issues, as the clock ticks towards the 2016 deadline.
Negotiations between three trade blocs in Africa to create a free trade area were running behind schedule in terms of reaching their 2014 deadline but were nevertheless progressing, South Africa Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said last week.
Tentative plans to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union could bolster some of Kenya's vital sectors, but could also distance Kenya from its neighbors in the East African Community, or EAC.
European Commissioner for Trade, Karel de Gucht, was last week in Nairobi to drum up momentum for Kenya to quickly lead in signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
The Government of Zambia has called on the three African regional economic communities (RECs) -- the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) -- to speed up their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.
An existing trade pact between South Africa and the European Union is presenting a fresh hurdle in negotiations for economic partnership with Kenya.
