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EPAs

EU flexes its colonial muscles with divide and rule strategies to crush former colonies with unfair trade agreements
11-Oct-2006 Black Britain
Representatives of ACP countries have been in the UK to lobby politicians to pressurise the government over its proposed new trade agreements. Black Britain spoke to them about how the agreements will destroy their economies and their lives.
EPAs negotiations: Civil society calls for caution
3-Oct-2006
Civil society organisations have called for caution as Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) and other African, Caribbean and Pacific(ACP) countries begin the second phase of negotiations with the European Union on the proposed Economic Partnership Agreement(EPAs).
Draft EU-Pacific EPA (Jun 2006)
2-Oct-2006
Mauritian MLAs asked to stop the process of EPA
28-Sep-2006
A Mauritian political party called Rezistans ek Alternativ (RA) has asked local MLAs to help in stopping the process of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) which, according to its members, Mauritius and fourteen other African countries have agreed to negotiate with the European Union, without realising the implication of such an agreement.
10 reasons to challenge the Pacific EPA
28-Sep-2006
Do the Pacific Islands’ negotiators genuinely hope they can negotiate a beneficial Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union or are they simply going through the motions and doing what is required of them under the Cotonou Agreement 2000? In the secretive chess game of trade negotiations it is impossible to know.
ACP-EU relations: The development challenge of EPAs
27-Sep-2006 South Centre
The South Centre, in partnership with a consortium of ACP and European NGOs, is organizing a high-level conference on negotiations related to Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) in Brussels on 12 October 2006.
Development compatibility of EPAS - A critical civil society review of the EU-ACP negotiations on Regional Free Trade Agreements
27-Sep-2006 WEED
The conference focuses on three particular problem areas of EPAs. Are EPAs endangering food sovereignty and rural development of mostly agrarian oriented ACP states? Are EPAs in their current form undermining autonomous initiatives of regional integration? What effects are to be expected from a broad liberalisation agenda including the so called "new issues” of investments, competition and public procurement?
BIO-IPR: Draft EU-Eastern and Southern Africa EPA
27-Sep-2006 GRAIN
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
27-Sep-2006 AllAfrica.com
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
27-Sep-2006 Kenya Times
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
26-Sep-2006
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.
SOMO Briefing Paper: EPA negotiations do not promote the right investment policies in Africa
26-Sep-2006
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
26-Sep-2006
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
26-Sep-2006 AllAfrica.com
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.
Kenya urged to look for trade alternative
26-Sep-2006 Capital FM
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.
Draft EU-ESA EPA (August 2006)
23-Sep-2006
The failed WTO talks and EPAs negotiations
19-Sep-2006 SEATINI
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.
Private sector urged to speak up
13-Sep-2006
A national call has gone out to the Barbados private sector, asking it to speak out as free trade negotiations between the region and the European Union (EU) near the final phase.
COMESA-EU pact to open up more markets
9-Sep-2006
The Common Market for East and Central African (COMESA) states have begun fresh negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) in a bid to expand domestic markets through strategic trade liberalisation.
Cape Verde wants to negotiate economic partnership with EU outside of ECOWAS
5-Sep-2006 MacauHub
The government of Cape Verde said Monday that it had abandoned the agreement established as part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and plans to negotiate directly with the European Union (EU) for an economic partnership agreement.