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12 June 2002
All future trade agreements that the EU makes with developing countries must prioritise their needs declared Eurostep. Next week the General Affairs Council is expected to adopt a mandate for the Commission to negotiate future agreements with countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Eurostep calls on the Council to ensure that the mandate fully reflects the objectives of EU development policy.
“The African, Caribbean and Pacific countries include the poorest and most vulnerable in the world” said Guggi Laryea, Eurostep’s Policy Advisor. “The EU’s future trade relations with these countries must address their development needs. For this reason we believe that the issues identified by the Cape Town Declaration, that was adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in March, must be fully incorporated within the mandate. The declaration is a benchmark for the mandate and will be used to judge the actions of the EU.”
The negotiations between the EU and ACP countries will formally start in September, and continue until 2007. Both the EU and the ACP are working towards adopting their mandates for these negotiations. “In negotiations like these the EU is inevitably the stronger partner” stated Simon Stocker, Director of Eurostep. “It is therefore important that the mandate adopted by the EU is unambiguously developmental and respects the needs of each individual country. Ultimately these can only be identified once sustainable impact assessments have been made. There must be flexibility within the mandate so that the results of these assessments can be fully addressed in the final agreements.”
For more information contact Simon Stocker at +32 2 231 16 59; or +32 479 489147
or Guggi Laryea at +32 2 231 16 59 or +32 474 296187
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