Ghana, EU to sign partnership pact
Graphic Ghana | 8 November 2006
Ghana, EU To Sign Partnership Pact
Story by Samuel Doe Ablordeppey
Ghana and the European Union (EU) have reaffirmed their commitments to go ahead with signing Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) despite calls by the civil society for its immediate suspension.
According to the two parties, there was no substitute for the EPAs, as other alternative proposals had been found not feasible in furthering the interests of the two sides.
The EU was, however, quick to add that it was committed to finding an alternative to the EPA for any country that would opt out, but no country had so far done so.
Ghana is among 71 other countries in the six regions of Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) that are negotiating trade agreements with the European Union.
A Director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector Development and PSI, Mr Lawrence Y. Sae-Brawusi, however, said in Accra on Monday during a meeting of the AEU delegation and a section of the media that there were challenges that the ACP region, particularly ECOWAS, faced in implementing the negotiations.
“We are going in for the EPAs but we have some problems”, he said, mentioning the first problem as the laborious processes involved in accessing the European Development Fund (EDF).
Ghana was a beneficiary of a socio-economic development support of €300 million under the 9th EDF from 2002 to 2007 and will now enjoy about €282 million under the 10th EDF which comes into operation from 2008 to 2013.
The proposed amount could, however, be increased by 25 per cent subject to the country’s good performance in good governance and transparency, among other considerations.
Mr Sae-Brawusi said those who had worked on the EDF had confirmed it could take up to about six years to access the fund.
He added that although the EU had pledged to support the ACP regions with €2 billion, many believed it was inadequate considering the huge social adjustment cost and the fact that a country like Ghana did not have safety nets for the vulnerable.
“We need assistance to overcome supply side constraints and strengthen regional bodies”, Mr Sae-Brawusi affirmed.
The EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Commission, Mr Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, pointed out that the EPAs were considered a much better regime because they would help build regional markets, diversify economies in the ACP regions and open up trade between the EU and ACP countries.
Mr Sebregondi said 30 years of unilateral preferential trade agreements with the ACP regions had only left them poorer and marginalised.
“Trade relationship should go beyond market access, promote a synergy between trade and aid and mainstream trade in development support”, Ambassador Sebregondi stated.
He said further that the economies of the ACP countries were too small to go into bilateral negotiations and also had minimal intra-regional trade activities.
For example, he said, 49 per cent of Ghana’s exports go to the EU market whereas 2.6 per cent of her exports go to neighbouring Benin.
Mr Sebregondi disputed claims that the EU would impose tariff cuts on ACP countries, saying “there will be tariff reductions but this is a joint decision, not an EU imposition”.
He also dismissed criticisms that the EU has an aggressive mercantilist agenda for ACP countries, adding that studies overestimate the impact of tariff reductions, as only 20 per cent of Ghana’s revenues come from import duties.
“The current high tariffs encourage smuggling and corruption”, he maintained, and that an estimated half of the country’s revenues from duties was considered lost through illicit trading.
The EU and ACP countries must secure an agreement on the EPAs by December 31, 2007 when the current transitional provision - under which ACP countries’ products enjoy tariff-free and quota-free access to the EU - known as the Lome and Cotonou Agreement signed in 2000 expires.
