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Trade ministers band together
29-Mar-2008
The Pacific ACP Trade Ministers from the region have agreed to proceed as a group with negotiations of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the European Commission by the end of the year.
Civil Society Vows to Stop EPA
29-Mar-2008
As the recently initialled interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) continues to take centre stage, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Africa have vowed to step up their stop-EPA campaign saying the pact has contentious issues.
Ramphal pleads for more equity in EPA
27-Mar-2008
Sir Shridath Ramphal yesterday made a strong plea to the European Union (EU) for "greater equity" in the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) being negotiated with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and, specifically, the one to be signed this coming June with the Caribbean Community and the Dominican Republic.
UN to review rights report
27-Mar-2008 Gulf Daily News
Bahrain human rights activists will raise issues related to "unconstitutional" constituency boundaries at a key meeting with the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. They are joining another group of activists from GCC states, who will meet officials from the European Union Commission and European Parliament in Brussels. The GCC group will highlight their reservations on their governments’ approach to various human rights issues ahead of the signing of a Gulf-EU Free trade agreement.
Caricom’s corporate conglomeration
27-Mar-2008 Jamaica Observer
At the 19th Intercessional Meeting of Caricom Heads of Government in the Bahamas, Prime Minister Golding called on Caribbean companies to join together in joint ventures because, acting independently, individual enterprises will be unable to penetrate European markets or to achieve the levels of efficiency that each country requires to enter and dominate those markets. He said the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) will provide a challenge to which the region must respond.
McCain eyes US free trade deal with EU
27-Mar-2008
The United States should build on the North American Free Trade Agreement by negotiating a new free trade deal with the 27 nations of the European Union, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Wednesday.
Cameroon to lose FCFA 1,036 billion to economic agreement
25-Mar-2008 AllAfrica.com
Experts have qualified the economic partnership agreement Cameroon signed with the European Union on December 17, 2007 as a veritable jinx that would inflict a heavy decline on customs revenue.
Kenya: How country’s economy survived the EPA threat
24-Mar-2008
Kenya signed an interim trade pact with the European Union in mid November to save its domestic and foreign investors who would have preferred to relocate to lowly ranked neighbouring states in the region, a senior official has disclosed.
Lobbyists meet in Uganda to press for ’just’ EPAs
24-Mar-2008
Ahead of another round of negotiations to conclude the economic partnership agreements with the European Union, civil society from East and Southern Africa meet in Kampala this week to take a common position on the remaining issues — services, agriculture, investment, competition and government procurement.
NGOs confront EU over regional deals
22-Mar-2008
On his arrival at a Joint Parliamentary Assembly of EU and ACP countries in Slovenian capital Ljubljana this week, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel was confronted with an array of parliamentarians and civil society activists carrying the message, ’Brussels-made EPAs will not fit ACPs’.
CAN intensifies preparations for the third round of CAN-EU negotiations
20-Mar-2008 IBLS
The Andean Community Member Countries intensified their preparations this week for the Third Round of Negotiations for the establishment of an Association Agreement with the European Union, which will be held this coming April 21 to 25 in Quito
’How EPA will underdevelop Nigeria’s economy’
19-Mar-2008 AllAfrica.com
Nigerian cocoa producers have said that the Economic Partnership Agreement will underdevelop Nigeria’s economy because the EU standard makes it necessary for exporters to add value to cocoa, something Nigerian cocoa producers cannot comply with.
EPAs - Groups decry perceived EU imposition
19-Mar-2008
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), including farmers, workers, women, faith-based and students groups and organisations drawn from across Africa, have decried the negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between Europe and the continent as another form of re-colonisation.
Maqbool discusses FTA with EU delegation
19-Mar-2008
Commerce and Industry Minister Maqbool bin Ali Sultan received here yesterday the European Union parliamentary delegation and briefed them on the Omani economy and the Sultanate’s future projects.
EU warns Sri Lanka trade depends on rights record
19-Mar-2008
The European Union has told Sri Lanka it has "very serious concerns" about civil war human rights abuses and that lucrative trade concessions could be at risk if they continue.
Michel on EPAs: ’I do not accept these excuses’
19-Mar-2008 EUX.TV
Continued opposition to new economic partnership agreements for Europe’s former colonies is too often based on "simplistic" arguments that are not acceptable, according to the European Commission. "I do not accept these excuses," says European Development Commissioner Louis Michel in an interview with EUX.TV. "If they really want to profit from globalization, they have no choice."
Costa Rica negotiates Free Trade Agreement with EU
19-Mar-2008 Costa Rica Pages
Representatives from Central America and the European Union met yesterday, March 17th, to negotiate new trade policy. One of the key elements being proposed by the Central American committee is the lowering of tariffs imposed on certain agricultural products to allow for more competitive trade.
Join the week of strategy planning and action against European Free Trade Agreements
18-Mar-2008
Over 40 people from movements and organisations from the South will visit Europe and join together with European organisations to sound the alarm on EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)
EPAs: The latest (unspoken) facts
18-Mar-2008
According to the latest information received, the ACP countries should be under pressure again this year to sign and provisionally implement EPAs before notification to the WTO could take place in order to avoid a challenge by other developing countries — this despite a legal opinion by a renowned WTO legal expert, Dr Lorand Bartels, that initialled interim EPAs could be notified to the WTO.
Free trade talks with EU lose pace
16-Mar-2008 Telegraph
India and the European Union (EU) will have to give the December deadline for their free trade agreement a miss if differences persist over the negative list and non-tariff barriers to trade.