‘The Interplay of the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements and the Rules of the World Trade Organization’ : “Double Jeopardy for Africa”

Abstract

The Cotonou Agreement significantly modifies the relationship between ACP and EU States, as it will introduce a special trade regime known as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) as of 1 January 2008. Economic Partnership Agreements are required to be compatible with the regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This requirement ushers in the concept of regional trade agreements under Article XXIV of the GATT and allows, by way of Economic Partnership Agreements, for the establishment of free-trade areas. Such a free-trade area imposes trade liberalisation requirements on States, and creates formidable challenge to the economies of the various ACP States. Such Economic Partnership Agreements constitute the essence of the Cotonou Agreement and are a significant point of departure from its predecessors. Taking into account, inter alia, the imbalance created by regional trade arrangements between developed and developing countries along with the fact that they have become a central part of the ‘development strategy’ of developing countries, the Doha Declaration recognises the need for strengthening their developmental aspects. Yet, ACP States are divided, for the purpose of Economic Partnership Agreements, into six regional blocs, four of which are in Africa. This highly criticised configuration has posed myriad problems. Notwithstanding these problems, the Cotonou Agreement requires Economic Partnership Agreements to be concluded on the basis of reciprocity and to be WTO-compatible. If Economic Partnership Agreements are to be concluded under the existing WTO rules of Article XXIV, there lacks sufficient room for special and differential treatments. In this regard, it is worth noting that the regional trade arrangement exception of General Agreement on Trade in Services provides for flexible treatment in favour of developing countries. The question is: why not with regard to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)‘ Thus, the major challenges involved in Economic Partnership Agreements comprise: (i) the issue of geographical configuration; (ii) the issue of whether Economic Partnership Agreements should be GATT-compatible or whether GATT should be flexible in accommodating development needs; (iii) the issue of reciprocal market access between the European Union and the African ACP States given the existing gap in their levels of development; and (iv) what Africa should do to overcome these challenges. Such crucial issues will be discussed in this paper.