EU seeks comprehensive ties with Africa

This sentiment was outlined in a report issued by the European Commission (EC) to the European Parliament, this week, adding that African economic prosperity is essential to European prosperity.

The EC which is the EU's executive arm, said it is becoming increasingly clear that Africa matters because of its political voice, economic force and a huge source of human, cultural, natural and scientific potential.

Ten African journalists currently in Brussels on a fact-finding mission meant to enhance their knowledge about Europe, were also furnished with this report.

Later this year in Lisbon, Portugal, the current EU chair will host the long awaited Africa-EU Summit on 8 and 9 December.

The Commission in Brussels said the EU remains the first economic partner of Africa with exports of merchandise to the continent amounting to 91.6 billion Euros and imports from Africa reaching 125.6 billion in 2005.

The EC also reveals that Europe's collective Official Development Assistance (ODA) for 2006 was pegged at 48 billion Euros.

The EC has also observed that China is rapidly emerging as Africa's third most important trade partner with total trade amounting to about 43 billion Euros in 2006 from 30 billion Euros in 2005 and that 23% of Chinese oil imports come from Africa.

Meanwhile two top European officials say the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which the EU is currently negotiating with the six African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions are designed to give developing nations more opportunities for local business, attract new investment and build stronger regional markets.

In an open letter to anti-poverty campaigners here Wednesday, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel say the EPAs would take a trading relationship based on dependency to a trading regime based on economic diversification and growing economies.

They say Europe's trade and development policy is to use trade to help ACP regions build stronger economies and break their dependency on trade preferences and basic commodity trade.

The two commissioners dispute misconceptions from critics that the EU is trying to force ACP regions into completing negotiations this year, saying the EU is doing everything possible to be flexible.

The commissioners explain that the suggestion that EU extends its Generalised Systems of Preferences (GSP ) to ACP regions to avoid the end of year deadline cannot not work as the GSP only gives extra trade preferences to countries that ratify and implement core international agreements on labour and sustainable development.

The commissioners add that contrary to statements that the EPAs will not be fair as they will open ACP markets to EU trade at the expense of local businesses and growth, the EU will provide a full removal of tariffs and quotas, with a temporary exception of sugar and rice.

“EPAs will not mean free trade between the ACP and the EU from Jan 1, next year or any time soon. This is not true. This scenario does not exist,” they say.

They add that the EU will ensure that there are no export subsidies on any goods where ACP countries remove tariffs to protect local ACP businesses from competing against subsidized EU produce.

The commissioners explain that ACP countries will also be able to protect and exclude sensitive products and take advantage of long transition periods to nurture growing industries.

According to the commissioners, the EU will also, during the same time, provide substantial technical and financial support to help with the implementation of the new arrangements.

“The whole process will be backed up by a considerable package of development assistance; the ACP countries will be major beneficiaries of the decision to increase Europe's spending aid for trade to 2.0 billion Euros a year with a priority given to measures that help implement EPAs,” they say.

The commissioners stress that the money will also help ACP countries to prepare new structural reforms and trade policies, adjust to the changes they bring and enhance infrastructure and competitiveness to seize trade opportunities.

The EU has also agreed to rewrite its rules of origin to further improve the market access opportunities for ACP exporters.

The EPAs are the agreements that the EU is negotiating with the six African Caribbean and Pacific regions that will replace the trade chapters of the Contonou agreements when trade preferences of this agreement expire in 2008.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews