ISDS Case Map
EU
European Union
The Swiss government on Friday said it will negotiate a free-trade agreement on agricultural products and food with the European Union in a bid to increase competition in the sector.
So concerned is Brazil about the Caribbean EPA that it sent, on February 5, a communication to the World Trade Organisation requesting a debate. Its concern is that the arrangement agreed with the European Commission may cause nations like India, China and others to cease to negotiate with nations like the Caribbean.
The East African Community (EAC) in November 2007 signed interim agreements with the European Union (EU) after the December 31 expiry of the Cotonou arrangement that gave preferential treatment to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific countries accessing the EU market. Peter Kaujju, spoke to Chungu Mwila, the director for investment promotion and private sector development at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to a watered-down version of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's grand design for a Mediterranean Union to boost ties with the bloc's southern neighbours.
The leaders of Central America Wednesday agreed to finish negotiations about a new agreement with the European Union by early 2009 - but only if EU demands for preconditions such as changing local laws are dropped.
This South Centre Analytical Note overviews some of the main challenges that
ACP governments face now in the EPA negotiations and provides suggestions
regarding strategic options for the way forward.
The European Commission is seeking to take more power into its hands to strike deals to protect European companies investing abroad, a role traditionally undertaken by the European Union's member states.
Association des Producteurs de Bananes du Cameroun (ASSOBACAM), sources reveal, pushed the Cameroonian government to jump into a bilateral agreement with the EU Commission. Many observers interpret the move to mean that government sacrificed the young industrial sector of the country to protect the interest of banana producers, most of which are owned by Western countries.
"We feel that the EPA only asks that we re-colonize the Bahamas," said Fayne Thompson of Bahamians Agitating for a Referendum on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (BARF).
Caribbean Community (Caricom) Governments and the European Union will not be signing the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in April, as scheduled. They will instead sign the EPA two months later.
