NGOs call for EPA boycott
3-Oct-2008 08:26 AM

AS leaders from the African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) meet for the 6th ACP/ EU Summit in Accra, to advance the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), Suva-based Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) joined NGOs globally calling for leaders to strengthen their resistance as the ACP group enters a new and unprecedented stage in negotiations.
 
PANG says the EPA pose the most severe test for the future relevance and viability of the ACP group, with serious implications for the collective and individual development prospects of its member-countries and peoples.  

“The summit is being held at a time of growing discontent amongst ACP members”, said Maureen Penjueli, Coordinator for PANG.

“Public events such as these are being held in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe and here in the Pacific to send a strong, clear message to the EU as well as politicians in Accra that the EPA falls well short of it’s development aims and in some cases undermines it”.
 
“The EPA in its current form seeks to open markets around the globe to European corporations, with Europe standing to gain at the expense of some of the poorest countries in the world,” said Penjueli.    

PANG says at a recent trade negotiation in Brussels it emerged that vital issues for developing Pacific countries such as infant industry clause and export taxes will not even be negotiated until the region negotiates on services and investment. This despite the fact that the Pacific had formally written to the European Commission earlier this year to suspend negotiations in services and investment because the Commission failed to show the flexibility needed to enable PACPs to be genuine service providers in the EU market in the near future.  

“A partnership implies equal exchange yet while our governments have already conceded to the Commission’s demands for reforms, to reduce tariffs, the Commission continues to make demands bringing into question whether this is a genuine partnership,” said Penjueli.

She said there was no legal basis to begin negotiations on services and investment and it would be unfortunate if one of the Pacific countries did break the regional decision to suspend negotiations on services.

“Our governments are now our last hope to ensure that they defend our development interests and their strength lies in negotiating as a block.  If the commission fails to genuinely negotiate then our leaders must as a region have the political courage to walk away from a bad deal,” said Penjueli.