Pacific-ACP States voice concern over lack of EU Economic Partnership Agreements [1]
Wednesday, June 13, 2012 - 12:20. Updated on Monday, September 9, 2013 - 18:40.
By Linny Folau
The Pacific States of ACP strongly voiced frustrations over an apparent lack of commitment by the European Union to conclude comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements for a free trade area with the Pacific region, during the 95th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers Meeting on June 12.
Tonga’s Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries Hon ‘Isileli Pulu as Lead Spokesperson for the Pacific-ACP, said the Pacific states would submit a proposed text for a resolution voicing their concerns over the lack of commitment by EU to conclude the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the Pacific, to be adopted by the Council Meeting.
He said Pacific leaders had reaffirmed their commitment to continue and negotiate for comprehensive EPAs as a single region with EU, which should be completed by 2012.
"Despite numerous approaches to the European Commission we are now halfway into 2012 and the Pacific-ACP states have not met the Commission for a formal negotiating session since 2009," he said.
The Pacific region was committed to a successful and early conclusion of the EPAs negotiations, but despite the region submitting its draft market access offers and revised proposed EPAs, the European Commission had continually deferred meeting with the Pacific states and had not responded to proposals and market access offers submitted in July, 2011, he said.
‘Isileli believed that this had seriously threatened the possibility of concluding the negotiations on the agreement called for by Pacific-ACP leaders and claimed that, instead, the European Commission had "coerced the Pacific region to accept the interim EPAs".
"Furthermore it is obvious that by its actions the European Commission’s non-response to the Pacific’s requests for negotiations suggests that the EU does not want to conclude negotiations on a comprehensive and friendly EPAs with the Pacific region," he said.
Tonga’s Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries Hon ‘Isileli Pulu at the
95th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers Meeting.
Progress
He added that in 2000, the Cotonou Agreement was signed between ACP states and EU to put in place a free trade area between both parties. It spelled out that a new WTO comparable regime or EPAs were to be agreed by the end of 2007. Pacific states then started negotiations with the EU in 2004, which had been a long and challenging process for the Pacific region.
'Isileli said to date, seven Pacific-ACP states including Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu had submitted market access offers to the European Commission in July 2011 while Tonga submitted its market access offers in 2010.
"So 10 out 14 Pacific-ACP states have submitted market offers and the remaining four have finalised technical work on their offers to be submitted after national approval."
He said this showed the region’s commitment and they looked forward to the European Commission showing good faith and negotiating the EPAs with flexibility in a spirit of compromise, while respecting both aims of partnership as set out in the Cotonou Agreement and the realities in the Pacific.
"The Pacific region is ready to move forward with negotiations and we seek your support in getting the European Commission to step up its engagement with the Pacific," he told the ACP Council of Ministers.
The three-day ACP Council of Ministers Meeting ends on June 13 before the high level Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers Meeting will be held from June 14-15.