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EPAs 2006 - Decision Year: Progress & Challenges on the Negotiation of Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and ACP

5 July 2006 12:00-13:30 (GMT+00) - Public event, London

  • The intense but largely inconclusive debate on EPAs is becoming an informed one at last. Key questions, such as ‘Are EPAs pro- or anti-developmental?’ can soon be answered. This meeting aims to provide some initial answers.

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    Speakers:
    Dr San Bilal, Programme Coordinator, ACP-EU Economic & Trade Cooperation, European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
    Dr Christopher Stevens, Research Fellow & Group Coordinator, International Economic Development Group (IEDG), ODI
    Massimiliano Calì, Research Officer, IEDG, ODI
    Chair:
    H.E. Ambassador Edwin Laurent, Commonwealth Secretariat

     

  • An ODI public event.
Although negotiations have been under way between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries on economic partnership agreements (EPAs) since 2002 (and are scheduled for completion in 2007), almost no details have been settled yet; this should change in 2006 which is shaping up to be a critical year for at least three reasons:
  1. There is an in-built provision to review progress this year.
  2. The negotiations are reaching critical details.
  3. Finally, there is a wide realisation that unless many details are agreed by the years end, the target of completion in 2007 will be unrealisable (or undesirable).
The intense but largely inconclusive debate on EPAs is becoming an informed one at last. Key questions, such as ‘Are EPAs pro- or anti-developmental?’ can soon be answered. And ODI will be providing the answers as they emerge.
This meeting will highlight research findings on the details emerging in each region, asking:
  • Where are we in the negotiations: key areas of agreement and disagreement, the geographical configurations, the implications for ACP regionalism?
  • What do quantitative models tell us: how far are the simulations able to throw light on the potential economic effects of EPAs, and what is the picture?
  • What do the ACP countries need: how far do they have shared characteristics and how do these relate to what might be in EPAs?