Economic Partnership Agreements EUACP A new instrument for trade and development

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Economic Partnership AgreementsEU-ACPA new
instrument for trade and development
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Why EPAs?

• Disappointing experiences with the Lomé trade
  rules
• Less and less acceptance of one sided trade
  preferences

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EPAs a new approach

• 1. Overall objective Poverty reduction
• 2. Basis regional integration (deeper
  integration)
• 3. Free trade areas (Art. XXIV) with a
  development objective
• 4. Coherence Combination of instruments of the
  areas trade and development co-operation

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Challenges

• Trade liberaisation is not automatically
  increasing value added and reducing poverty
  instruments- asymmetry- transition periods
• Regional integration in Africa overlapping
  membership
• Loss of tariff revenue/ government receipts

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State of negotiations

• 1. 25 May EU-ACP Ministerial Meeting All
  parties reaffirm their interest to conclude
  negotiations within 2007
• 2. Caribbean most advanced region (draft
  agreement on the table)
• 3. Good will of all sides necessary to stick to
  timeframe.