The Conformity of EU-ACP Trade Partnerships with Sustainable Development and Good Governance Norms or Do (I)EPAs Live Up to Their Standards?

Abstract

Is trade cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries an engine for sustainable growth?As the basis for individual bi- or multilateral (interim) Economic Partnership Agreements ((I)EPAs) of the EU with ACP countries, the current Cotonou Agreement advocates the globally acknowledged conditions and crucial policy norms for the pursuit of sustainable development. Therefore, one would expect that the (I)EPAs translate the sustainable development aims into precise legal provisions, i.e. that they create bi- or multilateral obligations and concrete commitments between the signatory states which support the achievement of the relevant MDGs and the consolidation of good governance practices. With that premise in mind, this legal Master thesis verifies whether the individual (I)EPAs live up to the standards set for the EU-ACP partnerships in the current Cotonou Agreement as foundation stone for the strategic implementation of sustainable development policies. In accordance with the revised text of the Agreement itself as well as in light of the development cooperation and trade for development objective of the (I)EPAs, its focus is limited to the policy norms of the most relevant Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), being poverty reduction (MDG#1), environmental sustainability (MDG#7) and global partnerships (MDG#8) as well as the sine qua non requirement of good governance practices.