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Korea to sweeten offer at next EU FTA talks
15-Nov-2007 Chosun Ilbo
Korea plans to accept a number of the European Union’s demands for lifting tariffs on EU goods in the fifth round of the Korea-EU free trade agreement talks slated for Nov. 19 in Brussels
Korea seeks speedy free trade pact with EU
14-Nov-2007 Chosun Ilbo
Korea’s top negotiator to trade talks with the EU wants a deal to be concluded by year’s end.
Malaysia’s racial policies jeopardize trade deal, EU envoy says
14-Nov-2007 Bloomberg
Malaysia’s refusal to review its race-based policies is jeopardizing a proposed free-trade agreement between Southeast Asia and Europe, said the outgoing European envoy to Kuala Lumpur.
Everybody is pushing free trade on Africa
13-Nov-2007 AllAfrica.com
There is an old saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life". Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are the equivalent of Europe telling the African fisherman that if he does not give them his fishing net (tariff flexibility) he will not be able to sell any more fish to them (fish exports). In return for the fishing net, Europe promises a European fish (aid) that the fisherman has to apply for and wait for over two years.
’Make accord with EU public’
12-Nov-2007 Trinidad & Tobago Express
As negotiations intensify for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the Caribbean and European Union before year end, there are now growing calls for the "draft" accord to be made public before the region’s governments sign on to such a deal.
Emerging uncertainty about Caribbean-EU business deals: As EPA negotiations drag on
11-Nov-2007 Jamaica Gleaner
A final make or break negotiating session is expected in the Caribbean at the end of November.
Response to the letter “This is not a poker game” by Messrs Peter Mandelson and Louis Michel in The Guardian of 31 October 2007
9-Nov-2007
You are right that this should not be a poker game. Maybe it’s time for reflection so you could realize who is actually playing poker with the livelihoods you are trying to help, writes Wallie Roux.
UAE still keen on Gulf-EU free trade agreement
9-Nov-2007 Gulf News
The delay in signing the EU-GCC FTA has resulted in a chain reaction as the European Union will now apply new standards in negotiating trade agreements, according to Sweden’s minister of "free" trade
The EU is trying to trick developing countries into poor trade deals
9-Nov-2007 The Guardian
The dirtiest trick is the spurious insistence on a December deadline. On top of this, the commission’s latest approach — that individual countries should sign up to EPAs without their weaker neighbours — reveals how shallow their commitment to ACP regional integration is.
Chaos on eve of EPA deadline
9-Nov-2007 AllAfrica.com
On the eve of the deadline of the finalisation of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations, chaos reigns.
EU boss to Kituyi: Take our deal or hit the road
9-Nov-2007 Business Daily Africa
The European Union reacted sharply to Trade minister Mukhisa Kituyi’s Tuesday revelation that Kenya will no longer pursue an interim trade pact with Europe but a comprehensive agreement ahead of the expiry of the one on December 31.
Biotech to figure in new EU-India S&T cooperation
8-Nov-2007 Financial Express
Biotechnology in agriculture, bio-fuel, climate change and energy security are top on the agenda of the European Union’s new offer for science and technology cooperation with India.
ASEAN health warning: Myanmar stunts your growth
6-Nov-2007 Inquirer
Brussels and Washington have taken steps toward free-trade agreements with ASEAN, but they could be stopped in their tracks if the destination was a deal that had to include Myanmar.
“Love is blind”?
6-Nov-2007 ACP-EU Trade
A two-stage agreement between EU and ACP countries risks being an ‘EPA tight’ rather than an ‘EPA light’
‘Ghana may lose $150m to EPA’
6-Nov-2007 Modern Ghana
Nigeria could also lose $680 million annually if the agreements were implemented, according to the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria
Africa: Church leaders’ statement on Economic Partnership Agreements
5-Nov-2007 AllAfrica.com
Full text of a statement issued recently by Church leaders concerned about new trade agreements being negotiated between Europe and developing countries
Economic growth without social justice: EU-India trade negotiations and their implications for social development and gender justice
5-Nov-2007
This paper attempts to place the EU-India FTA negotiations in their historical and topical context, and questions the coherence between the development aid agenda on the one hand, and the trade and investment agenda on the other.
Europe charms ‘poor’ Africa in exchange for oil
4-Nov-2007 Daily Nation
It feels great to watch those who once colonised Africa shift and fidget uneasily as they build up a case for “partnership” — if only the rules of the game were clear and genuine. But there is also the nagging thought: Will Africa play it right this time round?
EU gives Pacific breathing space
3-Nov-2007 Islands Business
Pacific Islands countries have been given a breathing space after the European Commission decided to extend the deadline for the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the two parties to December next year. However, negotiations will be held this month on an interim agreement on the trading of goods and possibly services.
Last chance for better agreement between Caribbean and Europe
2-Nov-2007 Huntington News
Having read the draft EPA, I can now confirm that in much of the document, the development dimension is referenced more in shadow than substance. A huge double standard is at play here and what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander, writes a former Caribbean diplomat.