16/3/2007
EU and ACP Ministers meet in Bonn for informal dialogue on EPA Agreements , Bonn, 13 March 2007

EU Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson and EU Commissioner for Development Louis Michel met this week in Bonn with Ministers from the EU Member States, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries for an informal Development Minister's meeting. The meeting, convened by the German Presidency of the European Union included a dialogue on the ongoing Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. 2007 will be an important year for the Economic Partnership Agreements, as the agreement that exempts existing EU-ACP preferential trade relations from WTO rules expires at the end of the year. EPAs are designed to replace these arrangements.

Mandelson told ACP Ministers:

"In all six ACP regions we have now a joint commitment to meet the deadline of end 2007 to reach agreement on Economic Partnership Agreements which deliver on development. In all six regions, we have tabled our ideas on the major issues. In all regions draft texts are being discussed. This does not mean that progress is assured. There are key areas in each region where we must make rapid progress in order to conclude. A lot of work is ahead for both of us. However, I think we have laid good foundations to take us into the final phase of the negotiations".

Recent progress on EPAs:

The last month has seen a series of bilateral Ministerial meetings between the EU and Western Africa (February 5), Central Africa (February 6), Eastern and Southern Africa (February 28) and the Pacific (March 1). The EU and these regions have agreed on the overriding importance of shaping the EPAs into trade and development agreements that boost and diversify ACP economies. They agreed on the importance of reaching agreement on the text of new agreements ready for the beginning of 2008, when the WTO waiver protecting existing arrangements will expire. They agreed on the importance of creating the widest possible market access to the European market for ACP regions, adding to the 97% duty free or reduced-duty access already granted by the EU. They agred on the importance of ensuring that substantial financial resources are made available to assist in the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreements, both from the European Union and individual Member States.