EPAs slowed but not stopped – take action!

Email Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development and ask him to stand up for poor and vulnerable people.

The European Union (EU) is pushing ahead with controversial new trade deals called Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The agreements were meant to set a new direction for European trade with 76 poor countries, based on co-operation and poverty reduction. Instead, they are being used to prise open these countries’ economies and open new markets for European businesses.

Traidcraft believes that as they stand, EPAs:

threaten small industries and millions of jobs

cut the money available to spend on essential services like health and education

will undermine countries’ own plans for development

will increase damage to the environment.

Time and again our Government has failed to turn its promises on trade into results. In 2005, the Government committed itself not to force poor countries to open up their economies before they were ready. But EPAs will do just that.

Your campaigning has helped to highlight the problems with EPAs and generate huge interest in the media, parliaments and the public around the world. Now we have an opportunity to help undo some of the damage and stop the head-long rush into negotiating even more issues.

We need your help to make sure the Government acts on its promises.

Take action: send an email to Douglas Alexander MP, Secretary of State for International Development.

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What your email will say

Many poor countries have initialled new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with Europe that require them to open up their markets, because of the threat of massive tariff increases. These agreements are bad news for millions of poor people.

Furthermore the European Commission is set on extending EPAs to include services and trade-related issues that have previously been rejected at the WTO. We believe that the current deals are incompatible with development goals.

The UK Government has now been given a great opportunity to live up to its previous commitments to stand up for the poorest and most vulnerable, by publicly calling for the European Commission and Member States to:

1. Make sure European Commission President Barroso acts on the reassurances he gave poor countries at the EU-Africa Summit in 2007, that the Economic Partnership Agreements initialled so far can be opened up for renegotiation, as requested by ACP Ministers in December 2007.

2. Publicly call for the European Commission to refrain from pushing for the inclusion of services, investment, competition, government procurement and intellectual property in EPAs.

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