David Cronin
7 July 2008
Brussels — The approach taken by the European Union (EU) in trade talks with Africa has been strongly criticised in an official report commissioned by France, the new holder of the EU's rotating presidency.
Christiane Taubira, the member of the French national assembly who authored the report at the request of her country's government, has recommended that the mandate given to the European Commission to negotiate economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries should be amended.
Although trade officials have been leading the talks on behalf of the 27-strong EU, she advocates that the basis for the negotiations should be rethought so that there is a greater emphasis on social and economic development.
Presented to Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, in mid-June but not yet published, Taubira's 191-page report contains strong criticisms of efforts made by the Commission to persuade African countries to scrap most of the taxes they levy on imports from Europe.
Noting that many ACP countries depend on customs duties for almost 40 percent of their revenues, she argues that the EPAs could render many of the national institutions in Africa "powerless".
And while the Commission has presented the EPAs as an opportunity for Africa to increase its exports to Europe, Taubira complains that the high food safety standards applying in the EU "constitute more effective obstacles than tariffs" for farmers and companies wishing to do business with the union.
Her report also suggests that the EPAs could fundamentally alter the political relationship between European countries and their former colonies.
Under the Cotonou agreement signed between the EU and ACP states in 2000, the former undertakes to help lift the latter out of poverty. Taubira says, however, that the EU should now state if it has decided to "abandon development as if it was a dangerous mirage and invite the ACP countries to throw themselves into the big bazaar of free trade".
Taubira's report was commissioned by France in April in preparation for its six-month stint chairing meetings of the EU's governments, which began on July 1. It follows concerns raised in private by French diplomats to the European Commission over recent months.
Although the Commission has been arguing that at least 80 percent of tariffs imposed by ACP countries on European goods should be scrapped, the French officials have recommended that the extent of trade liberalisation sought should be narrower in scope.
Peter Power, the Commission's spokesman for trade, said that the Taubira report has not yet been transmitted to Brussels.
"It would not be appropriate for us to comment on draft reports commissioned by the French administration that have not been circulated to us officially," he told IPS. "We have a close dialogue with the (French) presidency on EPAs and will discuss any recommendations they raise with us."
Thirty-five of nearly 80 ACP countries involved in the trade negotiations signed agreements before an end-of-2007 deadline set by the Commission. Yet most of these accords were described as "interim" because they relate to trade in goods rather than a range of "new issues" under discussion.
As a result, it was decided that the EPA talks should continue into this year, with EU officials conceding there is a strong likelihood they will take place in 2009 as well.
Other recommendations made by Taubira include that the EU recognises the right of poor countries to feed themselves by allowing them to exclude agricultural goods from trade liberalisation.
She urges, too, that development aid offered by the EU should not be made conditional on the signature of EPAs. The "new issues" of investment, competition policy and public procurement should be removed from the agenda. Many ACP countries had opposed the inclusion of those issues, yet the EU was adamant that they should be covered.
Oxfam, the anti-poverty non-governmental organisation, has welcomed her report.
Jean-Denis Crola, a campaigner in Oxfam's Paris office, said that the European Commission had used "immoderate pressure" in the negotiations by threatening to cut aid to ACP countries and increase taxes on their exports to Europe if they did not sign the agreements.
"Nobody in these countries -- peasants, craftspeople, entrepreneurs -- ignores the consequences these accords will have on their means for survival, their economies, their poverty and their hunger," he said. "Nobody ignores either the tactics -- pressure, paternalism and threats -- employed by the Commission to impose its point of view and its interests."
Meanwhile, campaign group ActionAid has expressed concern about the effects that an EPA could have on the fishing sector in West Africa.
After evidence had been gathered that European vessels operating off Senegal were depleting stocks of many varieties of fish, the Dakar government decided in 2006 not to renew an agreement granting EU boats access to its waters.
According to ActionAid, the section on services in a draft EPA forwarded by the Commission to West African governments would "open the door" for European fishing companies to establish themselves in Senegal. The Dakar government would no longer be able to introduce policy measures designed to prevent foreigners from depleting Senegal's waters of fish.
"Inherent to the EPAs are liberalisation measures which will see more European boats taking our fish with no obligation whatsoever to land the catches in Senegal," said Alhassan Cissé, a food policy specialist with ActionAid in Senegal. "This represents a major risk for the food security of millions of people, who rely on fish to provide over 70 percent of their protein needs."
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