Brussels, 10/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the EU and six countries from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) - Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa - was signed in Botswana on Friday 10 June, to the great satisfaction of the European Commission which has made much of the merits of EPAs. The ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) Group nevertheless fears that the other ACP countries might be penalised if they do not sign and ratify an EPA in due course.
Described by the EU as a development-oriented free trade agreement, this EPA “has the potential to boost growth and support prosperity all across the region (…) by helping economies integrate into the world economy through investment and trade”, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström stated at the signing ceremony. The EPA is also important for “reinforcing integration across the region”, especially through “flexible rules of origin”, she added. It will ensure duty-free, quota-free access to the European market for products from all the signatory countries except South Africa (which is already linked to the EU through a trade and development cooperation agreement). South Africa's access to the European market will also be improved, however, because, it will be extended to new products such as wine, fruit, ethanol, sugar and dairy products, and its geographical indications such as wine, Karoo lamb and Rooibos tea will be protected, Malmström says,
European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica underlined that the EPA can help tap into the potential of “fully utilising the economic potential of the private sector and further strengthening trade” - which is “critical for the new global development agenda of the sustainable development goals”.
Continuing concerns. The heads of state of the ACP countries nevertheless remain concerned that not all the ACP countries have thus far been in a position to sign EPAs with the EU “due to the excessive demands of the European Union which have weakened regional economic integration”. It is in these terms that the ACP country leaders spoke of the problem in their final statement from the 8th summit that was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on 1 June. They know that at the 1 October 2016 deadline, all the ACP countries that have not ratified an EPA will see their preferential access to the European market withdrawn. They reiterated that “trade agreements should strengthen and complete inter- and intra-regional cooperation in the ACP regions, and benefit from additional financial resources to the effective implementation of EPAs in the countries and regions”. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)