Economic Partnership Agreements

The Economic Partnership Agreements [EPA] are the latest in several free trade agreements being negotiated between Northern and Southern countries. Others include the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act [AGOA] and the Non-Agricultural Market Access [NAMA]. The EPAs are purported to grant new market opportunities to African, Caribbean and Pacific [ACP] countries on the condition that access be reciprocal. The European Union [EU] have touted this is a significant opportunity for Developing countries to access Europe’s huge economy. Previous to the EPAs, ACP countries accessed European Union markets through the Lome Convention. This changed after the ‘Banana wars’ waged between the EU and the US in 1994 and thereafter the WTO ruled that Lome was in contravention of WTO rules citing the unfair advantage given to ACP countries. Thus the Cotonou Agreement was negotiated.

The point of departure for many ACP activists and observers is that the EPAs treat all countries as economic equals and removes the preferential, non-reciprocal treatment envisaged by the Lome Agreement. They demand that ACP countries remove up to 90% of their tariffs in order to gain market access into the EU. Its ambit is all encompassing and potentially rescinds any leverage gained in relation to the New Issues and the Trips for example. Discussions concerning the EPAs began in September 2002 with little fanfare and the EU is pushing for their conclusion by December 2007. In brief, the EPAs represent an authentic and deadly war of economic resistance after the battles of Seattle and Cancun.

The following featured resources present IGTN's analysis of the Economic Partnership Agreements:

• Friend or Foe - The EPAs Unmasked , November 2005, by Liepollo Lebohang Pheko

The Economic Partnership Agreements [EPA] are the latest in several free trade agreements being negotiated between Northern and Southern countries. The EPAs are purported to grant new market opportunities to African, Caribbean and Pacific [ACP] countries on the condition that access be reciprocal. In this paper, the author explores how the EPAs have not examined the cost of liberalisation on women in terms of physical resources, human resources and social capital needed to transfer resources, skills and control to women in order that they effectively manage liberalization.

• ESA – EC EPA Brainstorming Meeting, June 2005, by Karin Gregow

Notes on a May 12-13, 2005 meeting in Nairobi, Kenya on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which brought together senior officials from Eastern and Southern African (ESA) capitals, delegates from various European Commission (EC) offices and country delegations,  the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the UN Economic Commission for Africa to address the following objectives:  1)  to discuss how to put joint talks back on track; 2)  to have open discussions on (sensitive) questions of substance; and 3) to enhance common understanding on the EPA process.

• A People's Guide to the Pacific's Economic Partnership Agreement: Negotiations between the Pacific Islands and the European Union Pursuant to the Cotonou Agreement 2000, March 2005, by Jane Kelsey

This report was commissioned by the World Council of Churches, Office in the Pacific, to examine the negotiations between the European Union and the Pacific ACP states for a Pacific regional Economic Partnership Agreement that have resulted from the Cotonou Agreement. The People's Guide uses a question and answer format to provide churches, NGOs, unions, politicians and other activists with the knowledge to intervene critically and effectively in the process, which they can then translate into more accessible and creative forms for their own communities.

• EPAs – What's In It for Women? A gender based impact assessment on “Women in Zimbabwe: Issues in Future Trade Negotiations with the EU", November 2002, by Karin Ulmer

The possible impact of new trade arrangements between the EU and the ACP on women in ACP countries is seen as an issue of critical concern, given the stated objective of the ACP-EU Cooperation with regard to poverty eradication, and since women in many ACP countries form the majority of the poor. In order to contribute to the discussions on EPAs and Sustainable Impact Assessments, APRODEV commissioned a gender based impact assessment study on “Women in Zimbabwe: Issues in future trade negotiations with the EU”. The report is based on primary research undertaken under the auspices of the Zimbabwe Non-State Actors Forum.

The Cotonou Agreement

The Lome Convention had been the main form of development cooperation between the European Union (EU) and 71 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP).  However, in June 2000, the European Union (EU) and the 71 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States signed a new partnership agreement in Cotonou, Benin. The Cotonou Agreement set out the general framework for ACP-EU development cooperation relations for the next twenty years.

The International Gender and Trade Network was interested in the Cotonou Agreement because of the role the Agreement could play in the development of the ACP region and strengthening ACP civil society organizations, the gender implications of the agreement and the potential for making this agreement more gender sensitive.  Furthermore, the Cotonou Agreement had as a top priority ACP countries "harmonious and smooth integration into the world economy" in accordance with WTO rules. 

IGTN, along with many in the women’s movement had concerns over Cotonou’s goals to make ACP countries WTO compatible in light of the negative effects WTO agreements have on people in poverty and the WTO’s lack of commitment to reducing gender inequality or mainstreaming gender analysis in trade policy.

The following featured resources present IGTN's analysis of the Cotonou Agreement:

Caribbean NGO Reference Group Position Paper on the Cotonou Agreement "Building New Partnerships For Progress

The Future of EU / ACP Development Cooperation:  A CAFRA/WIDE Position Paper

EPAs – What's In It for Women?" A gender based impact assessment on “Women in Zimbabwe: Issues in Future Trade Negotiations with the EU"

Additional articles are available in the IGTN Resource Library.