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BIO-IPR: Draft EU-Eastern and Southern Africa EPA
A recent draft of the EPA between the EU and 16 Eastern and Southern Africa countries gives a taste of what these treaties might spell out in terms of rights to local biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
Kenya: Lobby groups oppose signing of trade agreement with EU
Civil societies have asked the Government not to sign any agreement that emerges from current talks with European Union. The non-governmental organisations accused the EU of pursuing its own agenda, which does not match Kenya’s or any other African country’s.
Top EU officials arrive in Mombasa to salvage trade talks
Two key European Unions heads of trade and development yesterday jetted into Mombasa to thwart a bid by Eastern and Southern Africa ( ESA) countries to scatter the ongoing negotiations between the two trading blocs.
Aid groups say African trade deals deepen poverty
African countries risk sinking further into poverty if the European Union pushes ahead with new free trade deals that could harm local industry and farming by unfair competition, non-governmental aid groups said on Tuesday.
EU/Mercosur meeting postponed for November
A Mercosur/European Union negotiators meeting scheduled for early October in Brazil has been postponed until November, revealed Brazilian diplomatic sources.
SOMO Briefing Paper: EPA negotiations do not promote the right investment policies in Africa
The EU strongly advocates that attracting more foreign investment is a solution to African development problems and that African countries therefore need to include strict investment liberalisation measures in EPAs.
SOMO Briefing Paper: The risks and dangers of liberalisation of services in Africa under EPAs
The European Union (EU) is negotiating with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries for a new free trade agreement: the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The liberalisation of services and therefore opening the market for foreign investors is part of these negotiations.
East Africa: African states warn EU on trade talks
Trade talks between European Union and Eastern and Southern Africa countries are set to be stormy as ESA countries warned the EU against reneging on its earlier promises.
Local banks against red carpet welcome for EU counterparts
An overwhelming majority of Indian banks are against the government granting “full domestic” status to banks from the European Union, as has been given to banks from Singapore, under the proposed India-EU CECA.
Senior EC officials to discuss framework for agreement
Senior officials from the European Commission will visit Kuala Lumpur next month to discuss the framework for the possibility of signing a Partnership Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and Malaysia.
Kenya urged to look for trade alternative
Kenya Association of Manufacturers CEO Betty Maina said negotiators in the Economic Partnership Agreement, EPA, are not in-sync and the agreement might not be signed by the end of next year.
UNICE speech - EU-China Business Summit
Outline intervention by Michael Treschow, Vice-President, UNICE (Confederation of European Business)
UNICE - Trade and investment liberalization: An EU business perspective
Presentation at EU-Asia Business Forum, Helsinki, 10-11 September 2006
Mercosur, EU to resume trade talks in October
South America’s Mercosur bloc will resume negotiations with the European Union on a free trade deal in late October, following the suspension of talks last year, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
US expresses support for transatlantic free trade zone
Susan Schwab, US trade representative, on Wednesday welcomed the news that Germany was considering reviving plans for a transatlantic single market, saying these were unlikely to clash with attempts to relaunch the Doha round of multilateral trade talks.
The failed WTO talks and EPAs negotiations
ACP countries cannot continue with the EPAs agenda as if the failed WTO talks are irrelevant to the EPAs context. An option would be to take advantage of the proposed review of the Cotonou Agreement upon which the EPAs negotiations are based. ACP countries should not wait for the EU to do this for them.
Mandelson call for bilateral EU-Asian trade agreements
Peter Mandelson, the European Union trade commissioner, will today call for the EU to negotiate new bilateral trade deals with countries in Asia, a further sign that hopes of a successful global trade agreement are dimming. The targets: India, Korea and ASEAN.
Struggling with globalisation, EU to take tougher line with trade partners
The European Commission is planning a more "hard-nosed" approach to breaking into foreign markets and ensuring EU exporters get a fair deal, including protection of their intellectual property, through better use of available trade instruments such as negotiating new free-trade agreements.
India-EU trade pact firmed up
The high-level trade group between India and the European Commission, which is examining the feasibility of a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, will meet in Brussels on Monday to give final touches to its report.