Africa rejects EU trade deal
Sholain Govender
10 December 2007Most African leaders stood firm at the second European Union-Africa Summit in Lisbon, Portugal on the weekend, refusing to accept the European Union's (EU) proposed economic partnership agreements (EPAs) and signing interim trade agreements instead.
The summit, attended by 67 heads of state from the two continents, concluded on Sunday with the signing of the joint strategy set out by Africa and the EU, minus the initially proposed EPAs.
Heads of state, including President Thabo Mbeki and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, refused to accept the EPAs set out by the EU and asked that different trade agreements be negotiated.
"We are not talking any more about EPAs, we've rejected them ... we're going to meet to see what we can put in place of the EPAs," Wade told reporters on the second and final day of an EU-Africa summit.
Wade dismissed pressure for new trade deals by 31 December, when a waiver by the World Trade Organisation on preferential trade arrangements for developing countries expires.
Instead, by the close of the summit, interim economic agreements were put in place for signing in order to make sure that trade between the continents would not be disrupted come 1 January 2008.
Spirit of partnership
At the press conference, EU Commission president Jose Barroso said, however, that the formulation of the interim trade agreements was a good illustration of the spirit of partnership between the two continents.
Barroso added that the summit had resulted in eight concrete partnerships on peace and security, climate change and migration, among others.
"I now expect political leaders from the two continents to match their commitments," he said.
Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said the summit was still an extraordinary event and the fact that it was held was evidence that both continents had been able to overcome the impasse which had bogged them down over the last few years.
He said the summit was a milestone for both parties, having achieved many of the goals that it set out to, and that a Lisbon Declaration would definitely result from the meeting. He said all goals that had been set were achieved for the summit.
"We have adopted a joint strategy, an action plan and a monitoring mechanism - an agenda for which we will face the challenges," Socrates said.
African Union chairperson and Ghanaian President John Kufuor agreed with Socrates, saying that regular meetings were very important and that the summit marked a radical change in the relationship between Europe and Africa.
Source: BuaNews
