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EPA - could have dire consequences
21-Apr-2008 Jamaica Observer
Anyone could be forgiven for wanting to fall asleep whenever the new Economic Partnership Agreement between Europe and the Caribbean comes into the conversation. The language is so complex and dry that only professional diplomats can understand it. (And even some of them are pretending). But the Caribbean needs to pay attention, because the economic consequences of this new agreement are heading towards it like an express train with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Human rights vow over trade talks
18-Apr-2008
Human rights issues will be high on the agenda in negotiations between the European Union and the GCC on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a senior official declared in Bahrain last night.
EU Free Trade Agreements Manual
17-Apr-2008 Oxfam GB
Eight briefings on the European Union’s approach to Free Trade Agreements published jointly by ActionAid, Christian Aid, and Oxfam
S Korea, EU to meet next week for FTA talks
15-Apr-2008 Trading Markets
Top trade officials from South Korea and the European Union (EU) plan to meet in Japan next week to discuss how both sides will carry out the ongoing free trade negotiations
EU to speed up trade talks with ASEAN
14-Apr-2008 Jakarta Post
A top EU trade officer is in Jakarta to try and speed up negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and ASEAN — a process he says has been "moving relatively slowly".
Early GCC-EU trade pact urged
11-Apr-2008
The Federation of the GCC Chambers is inviting the European Union and the GCC to speed up signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two blocs.
EU accused of undermining UN development goals through free trade
10-Apr-2008
A group of NGOs, trade unions and civil society groups have accused the EU of undermining global poverty reduction goals through its pursuit of free trade deals with African states.
U.S. or E.U.? Tico politicos split over best foreign investor
9-Apr-2008
Costa Rican lawmakers are divided over who makes a better investor in their country, the United States or the European Union, according to a recent questionnaire.
Caricom sees EU trade deal by end of June - minister
9-Apr-2008
The Caribbean region expects to sign a new trade agreement with the European Union by the end of June, Trinidad and Tobago’s trade and industry minister said on Tuesday.
AU Ministers Call for EPA Trade Reviews
9-Apr-2008
African Union (AU) trade and finance ministers want the recently initialled trade deals between the European Union (EU) and African countries to be re-negotiated in the context of a comprehensible full agreement saying it has contentious issues.
EPA text released
4-Apr-2008
CARIFORUM states including The Bahamas are now free to perform their respective legal reviews of the Economic Partnership Agreement [EPA] between the grouping and the European Union now that a legal scrub of the document has been completed, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery [CRNM] Director General Ambassador Richard Bernal confirmed yesterday.
Brazil sees EU-Mercosur talks moving later in 2008
4-Apr-2008
Long-stalled talks on a trade agreement between the European Union and South America’s Mercosur bloc should make progress in the second half of this year, Brazil’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
TLC UE-Centroamérica: capítulo propiedad intelectual (2008) - texto no oficial
4-Apr-2008
ASEAN-EU FTA will bring disaster and sovereignty losing
1-Apr-2008 IGJ
Statement from the Institute for Global Justice in Indonesia
’We will all live to regret it’
31-Mar-2008 Jamaica Observer
Professor Girvan warns that the EU-Caribbean EPA could widen inequalities among Caricom states
SA envoy clears mist on economic agreements
29-Mar-2008
Short-term benefits brought by Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) should not stand in the way of long term prosperity and integration of the SADC region, says South Africas High Commissioner to Botswana, Mr Dikgang Moopeloa.
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.