Abuja — The ECOWAS Council of Ministers has requested the Heads of State and Government of the organization to issue fresh guidelines that will help break the deadlock in the negotiations between the region and the European Union for a free trade area of West Africa and the EU.
At its last meeting in Accra last month, West Africa's Ministerial Monitoring Committee (MMC) had agreed to refer the divergent issues that have stalled the negotiations to the Council which constituted the MMC to coordinate the negotiations. The negotiations of an Economic Partnership Agreement between West Africa and the EU was scheduled to have been concluded in 2007 but has been deadlocked over some issues mainly EU response to West Africa's demand for an EPA Development Programme, a 16 billion dollar fund to enable the region cope with the cost of implementing the EPA, the timetable for the liberalization of West Africa's market, the status of the ECOWAS Community Levy and its UEMOA equivalent as well as the applicability of the Most Favoured Nation status.
The EU is insisting that the EPAD be funded from existing funds contrary to West Africa position that this be funded from fresh funds and the Community Levy while is used to fund ECOWAS programmes should not be treated as a tariff barrier. The 67th extended Council which ended on Wednesday, 21st December 2011 in Abuja said that such guidelines will help the region continue with negotiations in order to agree a regional agreement to guide trade relations between West Africa and the EU. In other to avoid losing the trade preferences they enjoyed into the EU market, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana were pressured by the EU into entering into interim agreements that are expected to lapse with a regional agreement.
The Council also agreed on 1st February 2012 as the date for the resumption of new Commissioners for the Commission who will replace the inaugural Commissioners who assumed duty following the transformation of the defunct Executive Secretariat into a Commission in 2007 as part of the restructuring of the organization. The four-year tenure of all but one of the seven Commissioners ends in December 2011. The Council of Ministers decided that interview by an Ad-hoc Ministerial Committee for candidates for the post of Commissioners will take place on 11th, 12th and 13th January 2012.
The report of the Committee will be considered by an Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Council on 14th January ahead of the assumption of office by the successful candidates in February. The Council also instructed the Commission to commence the recruitment process for the Judges to fill current vacancies at the Community Court. The Council also adopted the recommendations of the Meeting of ECOWAS/UEMOA and the EUN Commissions earlier this month aimed at securing Funds dedicated to the Region under the EU 10th Economic Development Fund ((10th EDF). As part of its 12-point decision, the Council adopted a number of Reports including the Annual Report of the President of the Commission, Report on the implementation of assigned by the 66th Ordinary Session, Report of the Financial Controller, Report of the Audit Committee and the Report of the Administration and Finance Committee. The Council adopted two Regulations on the Air Transport Committee and Negotiations on Air Services aimed at facilitating air travel in the region. In his remarks on Monday 19th December at the opening of the session, originally scheduled to last for two days, the President of the ECOWAS Commission His Excellency James Victor Gbeho tasked countries in the region to adopt preventive measures to avoid the contagion of the global economic crises in the advanced countries of the world.
