Suchergebnisse

In the last decade the European Union (EU) has been negotiating with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries to establish Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). In this article, EPAs are located within the context of the wider shift in EU trade policy towards bilateralism. This is done with reference to recent work in International Political Economy (IPE) emphasizing the "domestic-societal" and "systemic" drivers of preferential liberalization. Although these pressures are not necessarily sufficient to explain the EPAs, they do account for why they have gone beyond the original remit of "World Trade Organization (WTO) compatibility" and why aspects of the agreements bear close similarity to the EU's supposedly more commercially oriented bilateral agreements. Adapted from the source document.

While the European Community has exclusive competence for trade policy, the competence over development policy is shared with member states of the European Union (EU).Given that trade is communitarised, it could be assumed that it is a strong instrument for the EU that can be well used for development. Trade is a particularly prominent feature of the EU's relations to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of developing countries, and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) are the envisaged new trade pillar of ACP-EU-cooperation. This study analyses the development relevance of the EU's trade policy towards the ACP countries as formulated in the EPA, with a view to drawing conclusions on how to strengthen the trade development nexus. It specifically assesses the way in which the EU as a multilevel system has operated in the EPA negotiations. It is notably argued that the EU system needs to be more flexible to respond to issues of development concern in the trade negotiations, e.g. market access and support measures for ACP states. Efforts are furthermore required to improve the coordination of European policy-making on trade and development. Both the EU's communitarian and bilateral policies will need to engage in a more complementary fashion to support productive and trading capacities in the ACP and developing countries.

Relations between European Union (EU) states and associated underdeveloped economies (the ACP states) have been largely governed by the Lomé Conventions. Likely difficulties in gaining World Trade Organisation (WTO) approval for a renewal of Lomé IV in its current form, and recognition that Lomé has been an insufficient support to the ACP group, has led the European Commission to search for an alternative framework. Its proposed new guidelines bring the debate forward on what a politically and legally feasible, and economically mutually beneficial framework might involve. They include a proposal that aid be focused on countries with a proven commitment to poverty eradication and conflict prevention, and offer Lomé‐style access to non‐ACP Least Developed Countries (LLDCs).
Yet they fail to respond to ACP trade interests, and sit uneasily with the stated development aims of previous Lomé conventions. ACP non‐LLDC's will have to chose between negotiating ill‐defined Free Trade Agreements (FTA), or acceeding to the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), markedly reducing access to EU markets. The costs ‐ in foreign exchange foregone and livelihoods destroyed ‐ could be considerable, as is shown by case studies of Zimbabwe, Ghana, and the Windward Islands.
Summary recommendations are made, finally, as to how EU trade preferences for ACP countries might best meet the needs of the majority, including a ten year waiver, allowing scope to adjust to new competitive pressures and to begin diversification of export bases; and simplified access to EU markets for the LLDC's.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, established in June 1975 by the Georgetown Agreement, was generally seen as an emanation of the European Union (EU). This article presents a non-EU-centric perspective by discussing various initiatives aimed at fostering intra-ACP cooperation and promoting common ACP positions in international settings. Furthermore, it analyses various threats to the survival of the ACP Group, some linked to its allegedly ineffective performance as an organisation, others related to the rise of competitors, most notably the African Union. Importantly, it delves into the reform process that culminated in the adoption of the revised Georgetown Agreement in December 2019, which transformed the ACP Group into the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), with the aim of establishing it as a relevant and influential global actor and reducing its dependence on the EU. In revisiting the evolution of the OACPS, this article identifies an intentions–capability gap, specifically between the often grandiose statements of official discourse and the institutional and financial resources devoted to implementing stated objectives.

[spa] Con el ánimo de contribuir a la construcción de la nueva cooperación comercial entre la Comunidad Europea (CE) y los países de África, el Caribe y el Pacífico (ACP), esta tesis se centra en el estudio del actual régimen de acceso a productos agrícolas concedido por la CE al grupo ACP. En concreto, se realiza un análisis y una evaluación del Protocolo del Azúcar CE-ACP (o, formalmente, el Protocolo nº 3 sobre el azúcar ACP), el cual aparece, por primera vez, en el Convenio de Lomé firmado el 28 de febrero de 1975. La principal preocupación por este instrumento de cooperación en particular es que su contenido es más beneficioso que el los demás Protocolos de productos agrícolas. Así, este acuerdo comercial sobre el azúcar es el único que se basa en un compromiso de compra, por parte de la CE, y de venta, por el lado de los ACP, de unas cantidades especificadas en el marco de un elevado precio garantizado. En la práctica, estos compromisos especiales han implicado transferencias monetarias sustanciales y un nivel de estabilidad significativo de los ingresos de exportación de azúcar para algunos de los países ACP participantes, especialmente para aquellos que presentaron vínculos comerciales históricos con Gran Bretaña. El objetivo final de este estudio consiste en proponer si el Protocolo del Azúcar CE-ACP debe ser integrado en los AAE o, por lo contrario, si es mejor mantenerlo bajo la posible exclusión permitida en el artículo XXIV del Acuerdo General sobre Aranceles y Comercio (GATT). Esta investigación también presenta la opción para el Protocolo del Azúcar de ser incluido en el Sistema de Preferencias Generalizadas (SPG) de la CE, aunque las reducciones arancelarias y no arancelarias, junto a las exenciones específicas, sean menos generosas que las otorgadas a las importaciones europeas de productos ACP. Con esta finalidad, en este estudio se efectúa una evaluación de impacto del Protocolo del Azúcar CE-ACP sobre el desarrollo económico de los países ACP beneficiarios. Con ello, se demuestra que las transferencias monetarias implícitas apropiadas por las empresas azucareras de los Estados ACP participantes no han logrado, en general, una expansión del bienestar económico de sus economías. Este resultado ha sido alcanzado utilizando distintos modelos econométricos: un modelo de regresión lineal, un modelo de corrección de errores y un modelo con datos panel. En consecuencia, concluimos que el Protocolo del Azúcar CE-ACP no ha funcionado como un verdadero instrumento de cooperación al desarrollo. Para recomendar cómo mejorar las relaciones comerciales CE-ACP sobre el azúcar, el trabajo econométrico realizado se ha complementado con el análisis del funcionamiento del mercado internacional del azúcar (especialmente en relación a los precios y a los flujos comerciales). Asimismo, se ha considerado la reforma de la Política Agrícola Común ante los cambios que implicará en el mercado europeo del azúcar. Todos estos elementos nos permiten sugerir dos opciones alternativas al Protocolo, permitidas en el Acuerdo de Cotonú, con vistas a dirigir la cooperación comercial CE-ACP sobre el azúcar desde 2008, momento en el que está prevista la progresiva aplicación de los Acuerdos de Asociación Económica (AAE) CE-ACP.Ambas opciones son compatibles con las normas de la Organización Mundial del Comercio y dependen de la decisión de cada Estado ACP respecto a la celebración de un AAE con la CE. Por un lado, para aquellos Estados ACP que decidan implementar un AAE, consideramos que el azúcar debería quedar cubierto en los esquemas resultantes de integración económica entre ambas Partes, lo que significa que se debería eliminar cualquier restricción que dificulte el comercio CE-ACP de azúcar. Por otro lado, en el caso de que algunos países ACP no alcancen un AAE con la Comunidad Europea, creemos que el azúcar tendría que formar parte del SPG mejorado de la CE, que será el trato comercial más probable que la CE ofrecerá a estos países ACP, como a los demás países en desarrollo. En cualquier caso, el proceso de cambio debería acompañarse de la concesión de ayuda financiera y técnica dirigida a dichos países ACP para ayudarlos a reestructurar el sector del azúcar y, en general, apoyarlos a que se adapten a las nuevas condiciones económicas de un mercado más globalizado. NOTA: Esta tesis recibió el "Premi Maspons i Anglasell" del "Patronat Català Pro Europa" (actualmente "Patronat Catalunya-Món") de la Generalitat de Catalunya a la mejor tesis doctoral en el bienio 2004-2005 (14a edición), el día 18 de abril de 2007. ; [eng] IMPACT EVALUATION OF THE ACP-EC SUGAR PROTOCOL.In order to contribute in constructing the new trade co-operation between the European Community (EC) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP), this thesis focuses in the current European access regime for agricultural products originating from the ACP Group. To be exact, it is carried out an analysis and evaluation of the ACP-EC Sugar Protocol (or, formally, Protocol 3 on ACP sugar) appearing the first time, in the ACP-EC Convention of Lomé signed on 28th February 1975. The principal reason for this particular co-operation instrument is that its provision is more beneficial than the other agricultural products Protocols. Thus, this commercial sugar agreement is the only one based on a purchase commitment from the EC and a sale commitment from the ACP beneficiary countries, of specified quantities, in the framework of a guaranteed high price -similar to the intervention price in the European sugar market-. In practice, this special trading agreement has implied substantial income transfers and a significant stability level of sugar export earnings for some of the ACP participant countries, especially those that presented historic sugar trading links with the United Kingdom. The final goal of this study consists of proposing if the ACP-EC Sugar Protocol has to be integrated in the EPAs or, on the contrary, it is better to keep it under the possible exclusion permitted in article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This research also presents the option for the Sugar Protocol to be included in the EC's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), even though tariff and non-tariff reductions, together with the specific exemptions, are less generous than those granted to European imports of ACP products. Within this aim, this study deals with an impact evaluation of the ACP-EC Sugar Protocol over economic development of ACP beneficiary countries. It demonstrates that the implicit income transfers by sugar companies from the ACP Sugar Group has not implied, in general, an economic welfare expansion for their economies. This outcome has been obtained using different econometric models: a linear regression model, an error correction model and a model with panel data. In consequence, we conclude that the ACP-EC Sugar Protocol has not functioned as a true development co-operation instrument.In order to recommend how to improve the ACP-EC trade relations on sugar, that econometric study has been complemented with an analysis of the international sugar market functioning (especially, referring to prices and commercial flows). The changes the Common Agriculture Policy reform will imply on the European sugar market have been considered as well. All of these items allow us to suggest the two alternative options to the Protocol, permitted in the Cotonou Agreement, in order to lead the ACP-EC trade co-operation on sugar since 2008. Both options are compatible with the World Trade Organisation rules and depend on the ACP State decision about the celebration of an EPA with the EC. On the one hand, for those ACP States that decide to implement an EPA, we consider that sugar should be covered in the resulting economic integration schemes between both parties, which means that any restriction on ACP-EC sugar trade should be eliminated. On the other hand, in the case that some ACP countries do not achieve an EPA with the EC, we believe that sugar should take part of the improved EC's GSP, which will be the most probable trade treatment that the EC will offer to those ACP States, as well as to the rest of developing countries. In both cases, the change process should be accompanied with the granting of financial and technical assistance to these ACP countries in order to help them to restructure the sugar sector and, in general, to support them to adjust to the new economic conditions within more globalised market. N.B.: Maspons i Anglasell Prize awarded by the Patronat Català Pro Europa (presently, Patronat Catalunya-Món) of la Generalitat (government institution) of Catalonia (Spain) for the best doctoral thesis in European integration for the biennium 2004-2005 (14th edition), 18 April of 2007.