Economic Partnership Agreements
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are development-friendly trade agreements between the European Union (EU), its member states and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries EPAs were established to provide a WTO compatible trade agreement between the EU and ACP countries that is safe from legal challenges.
Economic Partnership Agreements provide:
- duty and quota free access to EU markets
- long transition periods for developing countries to open up their markets
- safeguards that allow countries to protect vital products
They also encourage regional integration by reducing trade barriers within the ACP regions.
Why were these negotiations needed?
EPAs were necessary to ensure that the trade relationship between the EU and ACP is in line with current World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Since 1976 an agreement between the EU and ACPs (which include 77 developing countries) had allowed ACP countries one way access to EU markets. This meant that while ACP producers were able to export to the EU, they had remained protected from European competition at home.
However, under WTO rules, developed counties – such as those in the EU – can only give this kind of one way access to two groups. It must either be available to all developing countries or only to the very poorest group, known as Least Developed Countries (LDCs). As a result, several developing countries outside the ACP regions successfully challenged the EU to comply with this rule. The EU and the ACP were given until the end of 2007 to implement new arrangements that would fit in with WTO rules.
