David Cronin
29 January 2008
Brussels — European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson has distanced himself from a pledge to enable African countries revise a series of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) recently clinched with Brussels.
During last month's summit between EU and African leaders in Lisbon, European Commission president José Manuel Barroso said that contentious clauses in these free trade accords signed before Dec. 31 could be opened for further discussion at a later stage.
But Mandelson said Monday he was not in favour of a fresh dialogue on deals already secured.
He denied that his stance contradicted the promise made by Barroso. "I don't believe Mr Barroso gave such a commitment to renegotiate," Mandelson told IPS.
Almost 80 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) have been taking part in trade talks with the European Commission, although only 35 accepted EPAs by the 2007 end-of-year deadline. Most agreements were restricted to trade in goods. In these cases the ACP side has undertaken to remove any barriers it imposes on at least 80 percent of imports from the EU.
In a statement issued Dec. 13, ACP governments said that they "deplore the enormous pressure" which had been brought to bear on them to sign EPAs, contending it was "contrary to the spirit" of partnership between them and Europe.
However, they welcomed the promise made by Barroso earlier that EPAs could be re-opened.
South Africa's deputy trade minister Rob Davies said Barroso's intervention was "certainly a pull-back from the 'take-it-or-leave-it, this-is-all-I-can-offer-you' approach that has governed negotiations, particularly in the last round."
Originally, the EU had set Dec. 31 as a deadline for EPAs. Because its hopes of concluding far-reaching deals -- covering everything from the sale of meat and dairy products to rules on intellectual property -- were largely unrealised, it has decided to let the talks continue into 2008.
Speaking to members of the European Parliament (MEPs) this week, Mandelson attacked non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who have argued that the agreements would damage farmers and fledgling industries in poor countries by exposing them to competition from a deluge of European imports.
Mandelson claimed that Namibia's agricultural lobby had welcomed an EPA because it was designed to safeguard the country's beef exports to Europe. Similarly, he said, the textiles industry in Lesotho would benefit from simplified rules of origin, which allow it use ingredients from other countries in its garments and then export the finished product to Europe, without having to pay duties.
"ACP industry representatives do not have the same campaign tools or megaphones as NGOs," he said. "But frankly they know a lot more about what is needed to create jobs."
Karin Ulmer from Aprodev, an alliance of anti-poverty groups linked to Protestant churches, said that many businesspeople in Africa had opposed the EPAs, as had family farmers and trade unions. "NGOs picked up on these concerns very early," she said.
By declining to reopen the EPAs, Mandelson is "trying to tighten the grip as much as possible" to ensure that they are not subject to democratic scrutiny, Ulmer added.
The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, meanwhile, has called on African leaders not to implement the EPAs.
In a statement ahead of this week's meeting of African Union governments in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the organisation suggested that free trade can erode fundamental economic and social rights, recognised by the United Nations.
For example, it stated that losses in revenue resulting from a reduction in tariffs levied on imported goods could lead to cutbacks on essential services, such as health and education.
Members of the European Parliament also reacted angrily to Mandelson's comments. The strongest criticisms came from representatives of left-leaning parties aligned to Labour, which Mandelson has been credited with 'modernising' in conjunction with Britain's former prime minister Tony Blair during the 1990s.
Sitting opposite Mandelson, Belgian Socialist MEP Alain Hutchinson described him as "an inflexible and cold commissioner."
Hutchinson took issue with assertions by Mandelson that trade agreements would benefit poor countries by increasing their levels of foreign investment. Profits from firms investing in diamonds or oil in Africa tended to leave the continent, rather than help reduce poverty and inequality, he said.
"I'm not sure that forced market liberalisation is really going to cure all these ailments," Hutchinson said. "My political family -- which is the same as yours, if I'm not mistaken -- should be more in favour of humane assistance, rather than pure capitalism."
Glenys Kinnock, a veteran Labour politician from Wales, pleaded for a lengthy period of debate on the consequences of EPAs before they are implemented.
Within the EU, she noted, a period of several years can elapse between the conclusion of a major agreement and its entry into force. It would be "surely unreasonable" to insist that African governments implement agreements more rapidly than is the practice in Europe, she added.
But Mandelson rejected this call. He contended that swift implementation is necessary to avoid repercussions at the World Trade Organisation. While the existing trade relationship between Europe and its former colonies had been granted an exemption from WTO rules earlier, that waiver expired at the beginning of 2008.
"I certainly do not want to wait for years for ratification," Mandelson said. "That would not be remotely in the interests of ACP countries. It would reintroduce the threat of a WTO challenge and would therefore be the very last thing I would recommend."
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