Dokumentation »Making EPAs work for the poor«
»Free trade as a means of poverty eradication«? The leading question of the Bonn Conference of 21 October 2005 addressed the following crucial issue in the current EU ACP trade negotiations within the framework of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA): Does the CPA's trade component in its envisaged form of »Economic Partnership Agreements« (EPAs) effectively foster the CPA's central objective, that of reducing and eventually eradicating poverty, »consistent with the objectives of sustainable development and the gradual integration of the ACP countries into the world economy«? In short, will EPAs work for the poor?
The answers to this question as recorded in the present documentation reflect the positions and interests of the three main stakeholders present at the Conference. While the German government views EPAs as the relatively best WTO-compatible trade arrangement that will lead to sustainable development if the existing flexibility inherent in WTO Article XXIV is strategically explored, official ACP voices remain sceptical with regard to EPAs as potential tools for development. ACP countries are increasingly frustrated by the dichotomy between the development rhetoric of officials and the offensive interests pursued by DG Trade, which is heading the negotiations. The ACP side is equally dissatisfied the EU position in the current negotiations, which fails to adequately address the serious supply-side constraints of structurally ACP countries. This is expressed in the Declaration of the ACP Council of Ministers 21-22 June 2005 in Brussels, in which voice their »grave concern that the negotiations have not proceeded in a satisfactory manner having failed to start addressing most issues of interest and concern to the ACP regions, in particular development dimension and regional integration priorities«.
Herausgegeben von terre des hommes, Kirchliche Arbeitsstelle Südliches Afrika, Koordination Südliches Afrika, Netzwerk Afrika Deutschland, WEED und der deutschen StopEPA-Kampagne, Januar 2006
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Inhaltsverzeichnis Dokumentation
»Making EPAs work for the poor - Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and Political Alternatives«
Executive Summary
I Introduction
II Trade and Development in One Boat?
The EPA Concept from a Critical Civil Society Perspective
Tendai Makwavarara-Makanza, Swaziland
III Awaiting Flames of Fires
EPAs and their potential impacts on the rural poor in Zambia
Angela Mulenga, Zambia
IV From Reciprocity to Preference
Scenarios for Alternatives to EPAs
Francesco Rampa, Maastricht
V Development Benchmarks as Reference for EPAs and Alternative Trade Arrangements
Karin Ulmer, Brussels
VI Panel Discussion
Free Trade as a Means of Poverty Eradication?
Economic Partnership Agreements and Political Alternatives
Contributors
Annex
Cape Town Declaration on the forthcoming ACP-EU Negotiations with a View to New Trading Arrangements
ACP-EU Joint Parlamentary Assembly
Creating a Development Friendly EU Trade Policy
Christopher Stevens, Institute of Development Studies
Timeline: Key developments in ACP-EU trade - 2000 and beyond Selected Resources
