Eurostep responds to Commission on EPA studies

A response was sent by Eurostep to the Commissioners Lamy and Nielson to their letter and the analysis of the Commission to the studies on the potential impact of EPAs that Eurostep published in March 2004.
The study [Executive Summary] - carried out by civil society actors in Benin, Cameroon, the Dominican Republic, Ghana and Jamaica - pointed to the dangers that proposed EPAs could have for producers in ACP countries. In their letter, Lamy and Nielson rejected many of the studies findings. Eurostep's response stands by its conclusions.

Press release
Executive summary
Full version
Letter to Commissioner Lamy
Follow up Study by Fiona Black
Follow up study in spanish

New ACP-EU trade arrangements: New barriers to eradicating poverty?
The liberalisation of trade between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries will be detrimental to poverty reduction programmes and could even undermine the Cotonou Agreement itself. This is the conclusion of a new independent civil society study published by Eurostep and its partners from five ACP countries.

Monitoring Cotonu.

This initiative was established as part of the 2002 programm e of Eurostep. It was developed out of previous activities in which Eurostep was involved, particularly the Reality of Aid, the work around the World Summit for Social Development, Social Watch, and the EU's co-operation with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through the Lomé Convention. The objecctive was to  systematically produce assessments of the implementation of the EU's co-operation programme and its achivements.

Click here to get to the ACP website.