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The Lisbon Treaty – Implications for ACP-EU Relations
Following the positive result of the referendum in Ireland on 2 October 2009 – but pending ratification by one EU member state, the Czech Republic – the Lisbon Treaty is widely expected to enter into force before the end of the year. Despite a great deal of uncertainty on the interpretation and implementation of some of…
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Editorial
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,…
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News and publications
EU Agrees to Simplify CAP The EU Council has agreed to discuss simplification of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy and has adopted an action plan on competitiveness in the agro-food industry. While discussing the issues faced by EU dairy farmers during the last year, most delegations welcomed the analysis brought forth by the European Commission, and the measures…
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Services and EPA: a difficult but vital relationship
The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations intend to foster the gradual integration of the ACP countries into the global economy on the basis of an open, transparent, and predictable framework for goods and services. So far, a full and comprehensive EPA including services has been concluded with the Caribbean countries, while negotiations on this topic…
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Bananas, Economic Partnership Agreements, and the WTO
The conclusion of the Doha Round or an agreement to end the banana dispute at the WTO would significantly reduce the preferential margins that African, Caribbean and Pacific banana exporters enjoy under their Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union. On 1 January 2008, the EU implemented the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) it had negotiated with…
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Some Lessons of the CARIFORUM-EU EPA
The CARIFORUM-EU EPA, which was initialled in December 2007 and signed in October 2008, precipitated one of the most intense public debates in the recent history of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). At the core of the controversy lay differing views amongst Caribbean elites on development strategy, trade policy, regional integration, and the manner of engaging…
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Specialty Food Products from Southern Africa: Aid that views Africa as a Commercial Partner
Competitiveness is a necessary condition for reaping the benefits of a given EPA. For many ACP producers, accessing the EU market is an intimidating and unrealistic expectation, despite the duty-free quota-free arrangement secured by the EPA. Challenges include meeting the high standards for agricultural products and competing with like products on the supermarket shelf. In…
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WTO Roundup
Delhi Meeting ‘Breaks Impasse’ in Doha Talks A meeting of trade ministers from more than 30 countries held in New Delhi, India produced a ‘unanimous’ resolve to push ahead in the negotiations, but the officials shied away from discussing the technicalities of the talks, where the real work remains to be done. The meeting, held on 3 and…
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EPA Update
Efforts underway to unblock Central Africa’s stalled EPA negotiations Discussions on how to re-launch stalled Central Africa-EU EPA negotiations were held at a high level EC- Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) seminar on the finalisation of the European Development Fund’s 10th regional cooperation strategy and indicative programme. The meeting took place from 30…
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Events
ACP-EU Events October 5-7 Africa-EU Workshop on Resources for the implementation of the Joint Africa- EU Strategy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 8-9 Joint Africa-EU Strategy: Africa-EU Joint Task Force in enlarged format, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 8 -28 Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development, Barbados 9-10 Convocation of leading stakeholder representatives on the CARICOM…
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Resources
Resources All references are available at: www.acp-eu-trade.org/library Lusaka Declaration of the ESA-IO/EC High Level Meeting, 15th September 2009, ESA-IO Region and the European Commission, September 2009, about.comesa.int Implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy and its First Action Plan (2008-2010): Input into the mid-term progress-report, Commission Staff Working Document, Council…