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Sunday, November 22, 2009 07:08 GMT

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TRADE-AFRICA: EU Still Pushing Offensive Interests in EPA Talks
Analysis by Aileen Kwa*
GENEVA - The European Union (EU) has an ambitious agenda for the economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations. It is pushing for the conclusion of full agreements in the next one to three years, covering everything from services to ‘‘trade-related’’ issues such as investment, competition and government procurement.
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TRADE: EPAs Born of EU’s Concern with China in Africa
By Miriam Mannak
CAPE TOWN - The European Union (EU) is concerned about competing with China for access to resources and markets in Africa, which partly explains its drive to hook African states into the trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs).
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TRADE-AFRICA: ''EPAs Are Not About Partnership''
By Miriam Mannak
CAPE TOWN - The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated between Europe and its former colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions are not about equal partnerships but about enabling ‘‘big giant Europe to gain better access to African markets’’.
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TRADE-AFRICA: International Call for Action Against EPAs
By Miriam Mannak
CAPE TOWN - African and international civil society organisations have adopted a call for action, urging the rest of the world to redouble its efforts to stop the European Union's drive to institute economic partnership agreements (EPAs).
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CARIBBEAN: Fissures Appear Over EU Trade Deal
By Peter Ischyrion
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - It was not supposed to be so. Soon after beating the Dec. 31 deadline last year, Caribbean leaders were patting themselves on the backs for having reached a "far reaching" Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe that they said would help ensure the future socio-economic development of the region.
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TRADE: Individual EPAs ''Do Not'' Undermine Regional Integration
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS - Central African countries have committed themselves to finalising an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union by June this year.
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TRADE: EPA Damages Regional Cooperation in Southern Africa
By Brigitte Weidlich
WINDHOEK - The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should engage in serious discussions to prevent the economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union from destroying its regional integration efforts.
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ECONOMY-ANGOLA: (Responsible) Foreign Investment Welcome
By Mario de Queiroz
LISBON - A high-level mission from Angola visited Portugal to entice potential investors with new business opportunities arising from the newfound stability in the southwestern African nation, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world today.
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TRADE: Barroso’s EPA Intervention to Be ''More Than Symbolic''
By David Cronin
BRUSSELS - Conscious that trade issues had become a major source of friction between African countries and their former colonial overlords, the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso extended an olive branch in December.
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MALAWI: ''Trade Capacity Is Worse Despite Preferential Access''
By Pilirani Semu-Banda
LILONGWE - Malawians still await the details of the impending economic partnership agreement (EPA) which their government is entering into with the European Union (EU).
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TRADE: EU Stands to Increase Market Share in Africa With EPAs
By Julio Godoy
PARIS - While the real impact of the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) on the economies of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries will be ‘‘small’’, the pace of negotiations and of the liberalisation of their markets is too fast and will damage their economies, according to numerous French economists and development experts.
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TRADE: Namibia Happy With EPA Deal - For Now
By Brigitte Weidlich
WINDHOEK - Namibia held out longer than the majority of its counterparts in Southern Africa before signing the interim economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union, managing in the process to squeeze some concessions from Brussels after intense diplomatic efforts.
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Q&A: ‘If the WSF Didn’t Exist, It Would Be Necessary To Create It’
Interview with Aminata Dramane Traoré
BAMAKO - Aminata Dramane Traoré, one of the leaders of the anti-globalisation movement in Mali, reckons that the World Social Forum (WSF) is a representative movement that is essential to the common struggle of people oppressed by a "violent world economy" which often flouts fundamental rights.
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The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the former colonies of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region (ACP) are supposed to be in place soon. According to Brussels, they are an opportunity for these countries to shun isolation and expand access to international markets. But the ACP countries are anxious about being strangled by EPA rules.