Port Moresby, 31/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - Development Cooperation Ministers from the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries meeting for the ACP Council in Port Moresby concluded their work on Wednesday by “sharpening their weapons” for the joint ACP/EU Ministerial on 1-2 June in the capital of Papouasie New Guinea. Their demands focus on the development dimension in the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) negotiated as part of the Cotonou Agreement and which are supposed to be concluded at the end of 2007 between the EU and six ACP regions. Discussions will also focus on the distribution of funds from the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), which should enjoy funding of € 22.682 billion for 2008-13. The future of ACP cotton, which is stalling a bit at the WTO, much to the consternation of ACP countries, as well as sugar and bananas, were also at the heart of concerns included in the resolutions adopted. The earthquake that struck Indonesia was in the forefront of all ACP Ministers' thoughts, expressed in a Council declaration and personally submitted to the Indonesian Ambassador in Papousie New Guinea. The situation in East Timor was also the subject of a declaration. The resolution calls on the international community and the EU to provide a positive response to requests from the East Timor government and the ACP Group to use EDF resources for assisting this devastated Pacific island.
Commenting on the results of the session to the press, Onofre Rojas, the Secretary of State- National Coordinator for European Development Funds from the Dominican Republic and Acting President of the ACP Council expressed his satisfaction, “We have thought about the future of the ACP Group and the great challenges ahead, particularly with regard to the Economic Partnership Agreements, what should be in force by 2008. It will be necessary to not just take into account the development dimension, of crucial importance, but also aid for strengthening our capacity and the competition of our countries. Dismantling tariff and non-tariff barriers will be important factors. The EPA will benefit our countries. They should be agreements on cooperation and development. We will make this known to the EU”. In the context of the 10th EDF, the President was delighted with the “very firm position” adopted by the Council. He added that, “We believe that in comparison to the 9th EDF, it will be necessary to foster cooperation between the ACP and the EU and for resources for economic and social development in our countries to be maintained and even increased”.
Federico Cuehlo (Dominican Republic), the President of the Committee of ACP Ambassadors, highlighted the opportunity to provide a political boost to these demands in the knowledge that there is only a year separating the 10th EDF (1 January 2007) and the EPA (1 January 2008).
Rejecting the hypothesis for a postponement of this date (1 January 2008), the Ambassador did recognise the “different expectations of different regions”, which are, however, linked by a common hope for being able to “consolidate the access of our products on the EU market”. For the Pacific region, for example, this would in practice mean “limits on bilateral quotas that currently determine exports of fish to the EU, which would be overcome with a good EPA that provides better conditions to fishermen”
What funding for Economic Partnership Agreements that really are development instruments?
At the opening of the session, Sir Michael T. Sumare, the Prime Minister of Papousie New Guinea underlined the crucial importance on reaching an agreement on the new arrangements to reduce poverty, in keeping with the main objective of the Cotonou Agreement. He set the scene by declaring, “I am told that one of the main reasons for using the term Economic Partnership Agreement was because the new trading arrangements would be of a development nature requiring substantial development assistance to enable ACP countries to integrate smoothly into the international trading system. This understanding was later supported and reinforced during the Doha round which focussed on development aspects. So we are all surprised by the position of the European Union on this important matter…Whatever configuration the EPA takes, it should not place any ACP Member State in a worse off position than what is currently enjoyed under the Cotonou Agreement”.
As well as the question of the time table and disparities in how the negotiations are progressing in the different regions (the Caribbean has concluded the second more advanced phase, West Africa has still not concluded the first phase of negotiations), the most glaring problem for the ACP involves the importance the trade chapter appears to have for the Europeans in the EPA. Abdou Abari the Ambassador from Niger declared, “how can countries like ours, with a poor economic fabric and an inexistent services sector be able to create free-trade zones with the EU?”…
The development dimension means the development of industrial units, the creation of transport infrastructure, telecommunications, energy supply, the strengthening of capacities. It cannot just be about trade because the partners are not equal”. Although all the documents in the 10th EDF programming mention doubling the envelope for the Indicative Regional Programme (IRP) to tackle the development dimensions of the EPA, none of them say what proportion of these resources will be used for strengthening ACP capacities.
All the Ministers who spoke for each of the six regions sounded the alarm: if we want the EPA to be at the service of development in ACP countries, it will be necessary for the strengthening of capacities to be guaranteed. Without taking into account the development dimension, it will be difficult for some of the regions to sign the EPA by January 2008.
Yes to the tenth EDF, supplemented by remainder from 9th EDF
Ministers stated that from 2007, all resources from the 9th EDF that have not been used up will be re-allocated. ACP countries therefore assert that remaining balances should be allocated to the 10th EDF and used, for example, for supporting ACP economic development in negotiations the ACP have conducted for readjustment polices as demanded in the Community system of reform on sugar and bananas and for helping the four ACP cotton producers that are having problems on the world market, or even for reinforcing the CTA (Agricultural Technical Centre) and the Technical Centre for Enterprise Development. In the knowledge that out of the 10th EDF, the EU only wants to release € 600 million and constitute a reserve of € 1 billion in an effort to avoid paralysis in available funds, ACP countries fear a new battle over being able to use this reserve, just as they had to fight for obtaining the € 1 billion (subject to conditions) in the 9th EDF but which was finally allocated for the Water Facility. Taking into account these uncertainties, they say they are prepared to sign the financial protocol if differences of views with European partners are not too significant. Ibrahim Bocar Ba, the Ambassador of Mali said that divergences with the EU were due to the idea Europeans had on integration creating enlarged markets and the creation of a regulatory framework that is investment-friendly. Mr Ba explained that for the ACP, however, “the creation of a framework that only helps investment is not sufficient. What is needed is strengthened capacities, improved costs related to energy, transport infrastructure and telecommunications, increased demand for production. This explains the need for additional resources and for rapid access”.
The Malian Ambassador also said that, “many people are thinking of alternatives to the EPA and of making the Europeans much more aware of them. I am placing more hopes in getting a compromise”. He added that doubling public development aid which the EU was committed to in its goal of reaching the Millennium Development Objectives by 2015 and the € 2 billion allocated to the Trade Facility in WTO negotiations should be enough for getting the necessary resources for the EPA. He explained that the problem was that they had not been told how much this would consist of.