Regional Dialogue on the ‘Seventh EPA’: A Regional Dimension to Trade and Development
16th – 17th June 2008 • Co-organised with Private Sector Federation, PSF
To be or not to be: Do IEPAs fail to meet the ACP’s needs?
Since the signing of interim Economic Partnership Agreements (IEPAs) between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions, critics have questioned the deal’s effectiveness in meeting the ACP’s development objectives. Now, concerns are being raised over how much the IEPAs will influence the final agreement. And if the IEPAs fail to meet the regions’ priorities now, how—if at all—should they be re-negotiated? In an effort to address these and related questions, ICTSD and the Rwanda Private Sector Foundation (PSF) have organised a regional dialogue to examine whether the IEPA between the East African Community (EAC) and the EU accommodates the EAC’s needs, and if not, how the region’s priorities can be translated and reflected into a final agreement.