ISDS Case Map
EPAs
Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and ACP countries (under the Cotonou Agreement)
Hundreds of Ghanaian farmers and civil society groups took to the street on Monday calling on the leadership of the Africa Caribbean and Pacific countries to reject outright the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union.
Peasant farmers and some civil society groups in Ghana have called on African Ministers and negotiators to reject the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union.
Refusing to give up on convincing the European Union to take another look at its Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the Caribbean, Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo has taken his case to the United Nations.
The plan to merge 26 eastern and southern African states into a single trading bloc with a combined gross domestic product of $625 billion is complete and ready for heads of State to sign-off next month.
The heated debates in the Caribbean surrounding this region's involvement in an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe and the upcoming sixth summit of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in Ghana where similar issues will be debated, brings to memory the words of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie who saw a long time ago the danger the European union -- then the European Common Market -- would pose for Africa.
Pacific Island countries, including Solomon Islands, have told the European Union they remain committed to concluding a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by year's end. And because not all of them will sign up to the ‘trade in goods' part, they want to focus on issues where agreement can be easiest reached.
This article explores the current crisis in the EU's negotiations for new Economic Partnership Agreements with 76 ACP countries. In particular, this article highlights the rejection of most components of an EPA by Pacific nations -- who are demanding a reduced 'comprehensive EPA'. This has implications for Africa and the Caribbean, where governments are trying to back away from a full EPA with the EU -- to pursue only what might be required for WTO-compatibility.
Thirteen of the 15 Member States indicated their readiness to sign the Agreement at the Third Meeting of the Heads of State and Government of CARIFORUM held at the Sherbourne Centre, Barbados on Wednesday. Haiti indicated that there were reservations which had to be cleared at the Presidential level before signature of the document, while Guyana stated that it was not in a position to sign the EPA.
While it has been asserted that failure to conclude the agreement within the timeframe dictated by the E.C. would threaten Caribbean exports to Europe, we feel that our leaders should not be constrained to pursue a course of action which could prove to be adverse to our people in the long run.
To the man in the street, it seems that the EPA, and the debate on it, have split Caricom governments, and that the prospects for their arriving at some harmonious agreement at this week's Caricom meeting are not good.
