Brussels, 09/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - In Mauritius for the ceremony of the launch of trade negotiations between the EU and 16 countries of western and southern Africa (see EUROPE of 4 February, p.2), Pascal Lamy, European Commissioner for Trade, reiterated that the future economic partnership agreements between the EU and the regional entities which belong to the ACP (to enter into force in 2008 to prepare free-trade agreements for 2020) are, in his eyes, a tool to deepen regional integration and development. "The whole point of EPAs is to promote development. The EPA is not there to adapt our trade relations to WTO rules, much less as a way of opening your markets to our exports. The negotiations we launch today are, above all, designed to reinforce your region's trade capacity, to promote south-south integration, to improve and make safe access to the EU's markets, and to facilitate the sustainable integration of the countries of western and southern Africa into the global economy". The Prime Minister of Mauritius, Paul Bérenger, called upon both sub-African regions to unite to "benefit from a larger and more coherent regional economic area".
Speaking to the press, the Commissioner also called for negotiations at the WTO to be restarted. "The time is ripe to relaunch negotiations,", he said, convinced that "developing countries have the most to gain from a positive outcome", according to AFP.