ISDS Case Map
EU
European Union
African governments came under fire for ‘‘blindly'' negotiating the controversial economic partnership agreements (EPAs) and not making an effort to educate ‘‘ordinary people'' on what they were negotiating.
African countries will be locked into an economic model based on the export of raw materials that could have a devastating impact on forests and wildlife, if new EU trade deals shaped by former trade commissioner Peter Mandelson are signed - according to a new report published by Friends of the Earth today (Monday 20 October 2008).
An interesting new report on the trade and investment deals currently being negotiated between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries reiterates the need to revisit the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
European carmakers have attacked a proposed trade agreement with South Korea, claiming that it is lopsided and sacrifices their interests for the benefit of Europe's services industries.
Foreign Ministers from all 43 states of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, known as the Barcelona Process, met in Marseille on Monday and Tuesday to endorse plans for the mandate, structure and institutional governance of the process. The initiative, launched at the Paris Summit in July, aims at injecting a renewed political momentum into the EU's relations with the Mediterranean states through the reinforcement of shared ownership and the achievement of wider visibility through a far-reaching program of projects.
Botswana is cautiously optimistic about the on going Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) that are being negotiated between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community, despite some snags.
Developing countries negotiating with the European Union for an economic partnership agreement (EPA) or a free trade agreement should apply for "GSP-Plus" status with the EU, Kenya Civil Society activists say.
Presidents of Andean Community, or CAN, member countries met in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Oct. 14 as part of an urgent effort to rescue derailed group talks for a trade agreement with the European Union. Talks stalled in June for the trade pact after the European Union agreed to negotiate the accord separately with Colombia and Peru, as both countries are governed by pro-free trade presidents, unlike the presidents of fellow CAN countries Ecuador and Bolivia.
The Civil Society Network of St Lucia (CSNS) has criticised the decision of Prime Minister Stephenson King to sign the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe.
Technical issues and demands by the EU such as the automatic extension to the EC of future trade benefits given to third countries, export taxes, the integrity of the common external tariff of Sacu, the movement of goods between members of the proposed free trade area and infant industry protection are Sacu's major concerns.
