Teresa Robins
14 July 2008
Seville, Spain — The European Commission is still targeting those least developed countries that have resisted economic partnership agreements (EPAs) by opting for the Everything But Arms trade preference scheme.
Academic and EPAs expert Dr. Ainhoa Marín Egoscozabal told IPS in an interview that, for the European Commission (EC), "those countries that have signed the interim EPAs have to serve as an example to those that have stuck to the Everything But Arms initiative". Egoscozabal is a member of the Africa study group at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
About 25 African least developed countries (LDCs) have not initialled interim EPAs. The widely held view from civil society has been that it is unnecessary for LDCs to enter into EPAs as the Everything But Arms scheme provides them with the necessary preferential trade access to the EU's markets.
The EPAs have been consistently criticised as being potentially detrimental to development.
In June this year, 61 members of the European Parliament from 16 different countries voted for more flexibility and more time for the EPA talks, a sentiment echoed by many of those involved in the process. The Netherlands and Denmark are recommending renegotiation. However, the European Union (EU) has been pressing ahead.
Regarding those African countries that are contemplating using the Everything But Arms trade preference scheme instead of the EPAs, Intermon-Oxfam feels that this has to be considered on a case by case basis. Intermon-Oxfam is the Spanish member of Oxfam International, a network of non-governmental organisations working towards solutions to poverty and injustice.
Javier Perez, senior trade policy researcher at Intermon-Oxfam, told IPS that "the European Union's credibility as a whole is at risk. For African countries it is hard to understand the two faces of the EU.
"Important voices, such as Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade and the African Union, have asserted that they cannot trust the EU when it says it is looking after African interests."
He added that, "at Intermon-Oxfam we still hope to get as many EU member states as possible to understand that a fair relationship with the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific countries) is needed and that the EPAs fail on that. Spain is only one voice within the EU but you never know when or where a change of individual position may lead.
"We want to show the alternatives and press for their consideration," Perez said.
The inclusion of the "most favoured nation" clause in the EPAs will hamper any potential South-South trading abilities, according to Intermon-Oxfam. The "most favoured nation" clause requires that African states extend trade preferences from agreements entered into with other states subsequent to the EPAs.
Perez went on to say that, "our overall position is that an alternative to EPAs is needed. A bad agreement is worse than no agreement at all.
"Furthermore, the negotiations as they stand risk halting the regional integration processes which is key to the real incorporation of these countries into the global economy."
The EU has to fulfil its commitment not to continue with trade deals that will leave ACP countries worse off. There are many options, provided there is the necessary political will, Perez argues. "This process cannot be done in a rush. There is too much at stake."
Egoscozabal told IPS that there is a perception that the EC is driving a commercial agenda and has adopted "an excessively hard and hardly flexible" approach with the EPAs. Brussels has repeatedly rejected calls, mainly from African countries, to extend the period to negotiate the EPAs.
The inclusion of the "most favoured nation" clause, said Egoscozabal, is aimed at setting in place a legal guarantee that European companies will not receive inferior treatment compared to companies from large emerging countries.
She contended that the EC still seeks to fortify African processes of regional integration.
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