Speaking at the recent meeting of trade ministers from Europe and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries negotiating the deals, Dr. Modibbo Umar of Nigeria warned against 'sacrificing the livelihoods of our people and their future on the altar of the quest to conclude agreements.'
In a strongly-worded statement, he stressed the 'fears and concerns' of the ACP countries that the tight deadline would result in bad deals. 'Should we not take extra care to ensure we sign an EPA … that would facilitate the needed development and poverty reduction of ACP members', he asked.
The central aim of the Economic Partnership Agreements is supposed to be to tackle poverty, yet the European Commission seems to be putting commercial concerns first. Dr. Modibbo drew attention to 'the many issues yet to be resolved before the conclusion of a good agreement', particularly the unfinished 'impact assessments' which are meant to provide basic information for negotiators.
Indeed, he pointed out, those that have been completed have been rejected by the European Development Commissioner, who called them 'nonsense'. Without such basic information on the potentially negative effects of EPAs, he questioned 'should we be ferociously jumping in a blindfolded manner into … the EPAs?'
What the ACP need is more time, he concluded, a position that is supported by the parliaments of the UK, France and the European Union itself. If the European Commission continues to pressure the ACP to sign by the end of the year, any resulting deals 'would amount to shooting herself in the foot.'
