Discuss this articleShare your views with other visitors, and read what they have to say
Among the many events that have attracted media coverage this month, Ireland’s ’yes‘ to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. The implementation of this treaty will have major consequences for the institutional and legal structures of the EU, impacting directly on its external relations and development co-operation. In this month’s lead article, ECDPM’s Eleonora Koeb analyses the implications for ACP countries.
As EPA negotiations continue in the East African Community (EAC) and Eastern and Southern African (ESA) countries towards ‘comprehensive’ deals, African stakeholders are weary of the implications of making commitments in trade in services with the EU before they have made substantial commitments in the WTO and among themselves at the regional level. With services representing more than half of the gross national income of most developing countries, Fabien Gehl of the Directorate General of Trade at the European Commission argues that, contrary to frequent allegations, services liberalisation can be an effective way to contribute to development and regional integration.
Giovanni Anania aims to challenge commonplace assumptions in his article “Bananas, Economic Partnership Agreements, and the WTO.” Although it is true that the conclusion of the Doha Round or an agreement to end the banana dispute would reduce the preferential margins ACP countries enjoy under the EPAs, Anania argues that it is not always a zero-sum game.
The EU’s import regime for bananas was a critical issue in the run-up to the finalisation of negotiations on the CARIFORUM-EU EPA. Following a political economy approach, Norman Girvan draws lessons that can be learnt from the process that led to the signature of this comprehensive partnership agreement – a process which the author says suffered from a “Technification-Sweetification-Treatyfication” syndrome.
For those countries that have concluded an agreement, the critical issue is to look at how they can best benefit from the implementation of the EPAs. One possible way could be to draw lessons from existing initiatives such as the Southern Africa Trade Hub. In the final article of this edition, Amanda Hilligas shows how this initiative – by linking producers to buyers and investors in the US – acts as a facilitator of new trade and market information in the processed and specialty food sector.
As always, comments are welcome and can be addressed to md@ecdpm.org
Add a comment
Enter your details and a comment below, then click Submit Comment. We’ll review and publish the best comments.