TRADE-AFRICA: EU Still Pushing Offensive Interests in EPA Talks

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.

TRADE: EPAs Born of EU’s Concern with China in Africa

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).

TRADE-AFRICA: &#39&#39EPAs Are Not About Partnership&#39&#39

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’’.

TRADE-AFRICA: International Call for Action Against EPAs

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).

CARIBBEAN: Fissures Appear Over EU Trade Deal

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.

TRADE: Individual EPAs ”Do Not” Undermine Regional Integration

Central African countries have committed themselves to finalising an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union by June this year.

TRADE: EPA Damages Regional Cooperation in Southern Africa

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.

ECONOMY-ANGOLA: (Responsible) Foreign Investment Welcome

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.

TRADE: Barroso’s EPA Intervention to Be ”More Than Symbolic”

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.

MALAWI: &#39&#39Trade Capacity Is Worse Despite Preferential Access&#39&#39

Malawians still await the details of the impending economic partnership agreement (EPA) which their government is entering into with the European Union (EU).

TRADE: EU Stands to Increase Market Share in Africa With EPAs

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.

TRADE: Namibia Happy With EPA Deal – For Now

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.

Q&A: ‘If the WSF Didn’t Exist, It Would Be Necessary To Create It’

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.

BARBADOS: Another Caribbean Incumbent Bites the Dust

The winds that swept out the incumbent governments in St. Lucia, Bahamas, Jamaica and the British Virgin Islands in the past 13 months returned with a vengeance on Tuesday and upended the administration of Prime Minister Owen Arthur in this small Eastern Caribbean island.

EU-CARIBBEAN: New EPA Sets Timeline For Trade Liberalisation

Come Jan.1 a new trade and aid pact between fifteen Caribbean nations and the 27 members of the European Union (EU) kicks into force heralding in a new era in relations between the two trade blocs that will be based largely on reciprocity rather than protected trade, as has been the case for centuries.

TRADE: EPAs Signed ‘‘Under Duress’’, Says South Africa

African governments have signed economic partnership agreements with the European Union ‘‘under duress’’, according to Dr Rob Davies, South Africa’s deputy trade and industry minister.

Q&A: ‘‘The EU Is a Bandit in Trade Negotiations’’

A lively debate has been taking place in Ghana for some time now over the likely effects that an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the European Union would have on the country. This has been thanks in no small part to the work of Tetteh Hormeku, one of Africa’s most vocal campaigners on trade issues.

CHALLENGES 2007-2008: Regional Integration in Tatters Due to EPAs

The spectre of regional fragmentation is haunting the negotiations on the finalisation of interim economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. This is despite one of the stated goals of the EPAs being ‘‘regional integration’’.

TRADE-AFRICA: EU is Using &#39&#39Bully Tactics&#39&#39 to Push Through EPAs

‘‘We succumbed,’’ lamented a diplomat from Namibia. ‘‘We signed on the 12th of December. The pressure was too much. The private sector felt that they would be disproportionately affected. In terms of markets, they would be losing access for beef, grapes, fish and fish products.’’

TRADE-GHANA: ‘‘How Would Mandelson Know What’s Good For Us?’’

There is only one freezer in Ken’s Frozen Foods. Agnes Modenu, the manager of this tiny shop, lifts its lid and takes out transparent bags of frozen chicken parts. All of the meat has been delivered to a nearby harbour after being imported into Ghana, she says.

TRADE: Caribbean Draws Line in the Sand with EU

Barbados is the venue for a new round of talks starting this week that could make or break efforts to forge an agreement between Caribbean nations and the 27-member European Union for a new trade and aid pact that must be concluded by the end of the month in order to comply with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.