Will EPAs Foster the Integration of Africa Into World Trade?

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aniekan Iboro Ukpe
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Market Access ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Alternative Approach ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
Trade Relationship ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
The Eu

AbstractNew Economic Partnership Agreements were intended to replace the non-reciprocal EU-African, Caribbean and Pacific trade relationship by 1 January 2008, in a bid to further the development of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries under a WTO-compatible framework. African countries and regions failed to conclude any EPAs by that date due to scepticism about the deeper trade implications of EPAs. However, in a move that has seen the disintegration of Africa's EPA negotiating groups and compromised regional integration across the continent, many African countries broke ranks to initial bilateral goods-only Interim Agreements with the EU as a first step towards concluding full EPAs. Exploring an alternative approach to concluding EPAs, this article underscores the point that the Interim Agreements, although seemingly preserving market access preferences for some African countries, are already having devastating effects on regional integration, the very basis of Africa's development strategy.

scholarly journals Reflecting on Namibia’s Position in the European Union (EU)-Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) Negotiations and the Lessons for Africa

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Charity Manyeruke ◽  
Lawrence Mhandara
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Import Duty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
African Countries ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Southern Africa Development Community ◽  
The Eu

Negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between European Union (EU) and the African Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) have been on the spotlight since 2002. The negotiations seek to replace the Lome Conventions which provided for a one way non-reciprocal trading regime between the EU and the ACP countries. The paper examines the position of Namibia in relation to EPAs and the lessons that Africa can derive from Namibia’s stance. Namibia which is negotiating under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has declined to sign the Interim Partnership Agreements, besides initialing them in 2007, arguing that EPAs are not consistent with the objective of advancing African economies into competitive outfits in the global economy. Some of the sticking issues that need to be addressed concern EU’s demand for trade liberalization and a near elimination of import duty on all EU products to ACP zone. The paper argues that the major lessons for Africa are that EPA negotiations are much a political activity in as much as they involve the advancement of collective national interest by the EU. The paper therefore implores African countries to safeguard both political and economic interest in the process in the same manner as their EU counterparts are doing. Again, the paper exhorts Africa to negotiate from a position of strength and refuse to give in to unfair trade terms given the evident competition that is looming between the West and the East to partner Africa in development matters.

Implications of the European Union (EU)-African, Caribbean, and Pacific Partnership Agreements on Economic Nationalism

2019 ◽  
pp. 140-157
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Kurebwa ◽  
Shamiso Yikoniko
Keyword(s):  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Economic Nationalism ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
Trade Relationship ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Partnership Agreement ◽  
The Eu

This chapter seeks to understand the EU-ACP trade relations under the economic partnership agreement (EPA) arrangement and its implications on economic nationalism of developing nations with specific reference to Zimbabwe. The research strongly leans on the view that EPAs have little or no economic benefit to the ACP. Even though the EU tagged the ensuing trade relationship with the ACP as partnership, in the real sense, it is more of paternalism. This is especially so as the EU dictates the terms and the pace of the negotiation, owns the incentives (in the form of aid and technical assistance), and either dispenses or withdraws it at will, depending on the “behavior” of the ACP countries. In order to benefit from EPAs, ACP countries must fund their own economies. ACP states should also address internal political challenges before committing to multiple economic fronts such as the EPAs.

Actorness and trade negotiating outcomes: West Africa and the SADC Group in negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merran Hulse
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
International Negotiations ◽  
Trade Negotiations ◽  
Power Asymmetry ◽  
Interregional Trade ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
Interregional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Collective Goals ◽  
The Eu

In 2014, the EU concluded Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with several African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions. These EPAs represent some of the most advanced examples of interregional cooperation. Yet, the outcomes of EPA negotiations are not the same across all regions. This article investigates differences in negotiated outcomes and argues that regional actorness – the ability of regions to become identifiable, to aggregate the interests of member states, to formulate collective goals and to make and implement decisions – influences regions’ ability to navigate interregional trade negotiations. In a comparison of the actorness and negotiated outcomes of West Africa and the SADC EPA Group, the article shows that actorness matters for international negotiations: regions with higher levels of actorness can negotiate better outcomes even under conditions of stark power asymmetry.

Doing It Different

2014 ◽  
pp. 56-72
Author(s):  
Owais Hassan Shaikh ◽  
Yifat Nahmias
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Least Developed Countries ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Interregional Trade ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
The Eu

This chapter highlights the current developments in the area of intellectual property having direct consequence for the prospects of Africa's knowledge society. Even though African countries, especially the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), have not yet faced pressure from the EU, US, and EFTA for higher intellectual property standards, the situation may change soon with the imminent deadline for conclusion of Economic Partnership Agreements in 2014, the lapse of Africa Growth and Opportunities Act in 2015, and the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020. African countries will be well advised to decouple trade and intellectual property issues by promoting interregional trade or trade with other developing countries that do not demand TRIPS-Plus protection. They must also negotiate intellectual property within the ambit of the WTO.

A 'Sustainability Impact Assessment' of the Economic Partnership Agreements: Challenging the Participatory Process

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clair Gammage
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Participatory Process ◽  
Country Ownership ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Participation Process ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Trade Preferences ◽  
Sustainability Impact Assessment ◽  
The Eu

For the past decade the EU has been preparing to end its tradition of preferential and partially reciprocal trade with the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries. With the expiry of trade preferences in 2007 under the Cotonou Agreement, these trade partners have agreed to negotiate Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) and trade on reciprocal terms, in a bid to preserve their special relationship. A Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) was commissioned by the EU to engage stakeholders in discussion about the real and potential challenges of the new trade regime facing ACP countries. This paper examines the participatory process of the EPA negotiations, in particular the Sustainability Impact Assessment, through the lens of country ownership and deliberative democracy. Discussion of the participation process will be twofold: analysing whether the issues raised in the public sphere are reflected in the CARIFORUM-EC EPA, and the extent to which the SIA is legitimised through public participation.

An Assessment of Barbados' Competitiveness within the EU Market 1992-2006

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1850194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Troy Lorde ◽  
Antonio Alleyne ◽  
Brian Francis
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Agricultural Policy ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Rules Of Origin ◽  
History Of ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Partnership Agreement ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

This paper assesses Barbados' competitiveness within the EU market in light of its recent signing of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU in 2008. Using SITC data from 1992-2006, indices of revealed comparative advantage (RCA) were calculated. We found that Barbados possesses comparative advantages in Live Animals; Raw Sugars, Beet and Cane; and Spirits. However, policies such as the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), stringent sanitary and phytosanitary requirements, onerous rules of origin and non-tariff barriers including technical barriers to trade, threaten to undermine these advantages. These developments strongly suggest that Barbados must move agriculture up the value chain and increase value-added, as well as integrate it more fully with other sectors of its economy. Greater attention must be focused on countries in the EU other than the UK, if full advantage is to be taken of the EPA, as the UK market is already mature. There is evidence that export opportunities to these countries exist in other commodity groups (Fuels, Lubricants, etc.; Animal, Vegetable Oils Fats, Wax; Chemicals, Related Products; Manufactured Goods). When these issues are placed within the context of Barbados' history of weak capacity to take advantage of the market access opportunities available from their trading arrangements, the overarching challenge for Barbados is one of effective market access. This will require, among other things, a capable export promotion agency. The export of non-traditional commodities should be promoted, and greater support, perhaps in the form of incentives, should be provided to large firms that are not yet exporters to encourage them to look beyond the domestic market.

Europäische Handelspolitik – was kann ihr Beitrag zu nachhaltiger Entwicklung in Afrika sein?

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-287
Author(s):  
Evita Schmieg
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Trade Policy ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Economic Framework ◽  
Trade Relationship ◽  
European Trade ◽  
Framework Conditions ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Eu

Abstract European trade policy is under pressure to comply with sustainability demands. Trade policy can actively contribute to sustainable development, but under certain conditions, amongst them respect for the level of development, the point of departure of the respective countries and the inclusion of specific provisions for sustainability. Trade policy reaches its limitations in internal political and economic framework conditions in partner countries as well as other processes of globalization. This is also reflected in the trade relationship between the EU and African countries.

Regionalism in the WTO and the Legal Status of a Development Agenda in the EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreement

2009 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-248
Author(s):  
Yenkong Ngangjoh Hodu
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
Economic Partnership ◽  
Partnership Agreement ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs) which share similar ideals with the World Trade Organization (WTO) has added to claims of disintegration within international trade law. Notwithstanding the ambiguity surrounding the reading of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV on RTAs, WTO members are continuously negotiating RTAs with objectives which have so far not received universal acceptance under the WTO treaty system. In the context of European Union (EU)-Africa trade relations, the December 2007 EU-Africa summit was expected to be an appropriate venue for leaders from both sides to resolve the controversy surrounding the idea of development-friendly free trade agreements between the contracting parties. But, the summit was wrapped up without achieving any clear answer to this issue. Similarly, at the multilateral level, i.e. the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations, which the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States have sponsored, numerous development-friendly proposals on RTAs stalled since July 2006. Consequently, in view of this controversy, if development concerns can be factored into economic partnership agreements (EPAs), what would be an acceptable threshold for such RTAs to conform to GATT Article XXIV requirements of “substantially all trade” and “reasonable period of time”? This paper discusses the idea of development and WTO compatibility in the context of the EU-Africa Economic Partnership negotiations. In view of the flawed dispute settlement provisions under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), the paper further tries to answer the question of whether the CPA contains rights and obligations that need protection by individual EU member courts and may necessarily be enforced before the European Court of Justice. The paper ends with some thoughts on the post-EPAs adjustment programme.

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