Suchergebnisse

Since its formation the European Union (EU) has employed a rather complicated policy to ensure high prices to domestic sugar growers and trade preferences to certain sugar exporting countries, e.g. the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. One result of this policy is that the EU has been both the second largest importer and second largest exporter in the world market. Under pressure from the World Trade Organization (WTO), the EU agreed to reform its policies toward sugar in 2001, with the full effect of the reforms being fully implemented in 2006. In this paper, the impact of the sugar reform on EU production, consumption, imports, and exports is examined especially with regard to how it all affects the ACP countries who receive preferential treatment regarding access to EU sugar markets. Preliminary analysis indicates that lowering domestic EU prices, while quotas requirements for ACP countries remain intact might have negative revenue implications for poor sugar producers.

The decades of the 1960s and 70s can be characterised as a period of great excitement and euphoria with regard to expectations for wide-scale economic growth and development in the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. Despite the vast array of literature on the reasons for the failure of most of these ACP states to achieve development, very little has been written regarding the way initial exaggerated development expectations and ambitions among ACP states contributed to their eventual disappointment. This paper, therefore, discusses the two main sets of factors which contributed to some of these initial development expectations and the general mood of optimism which helped to fuel the mood for radical demands from the developing countries for political and economic change. The discussion takes places with particular reference to the first ACP-EEC Agreement signed in 1975, known as the Lomé Convention, which at the time, was regarded the 'litmus test' of North–South relations.

This article extends the thesis that globalization is imperialism by arguing that the actions taken by US banana multinationals and ruling elites to force open the European Union's (EU) banana market to bananas grown in Latin America, 'dollar bananas', played a significant role in the emergence of what I term 'European bloc imperialism' through the implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. Ten theses on EU bloc imperialism are presented and the role of US hegemony in its emergence is examined to support the idea that it is a by-product of neoliberal globalization. Developing the argument, I examine the rise of the EU and ACP blocs, the EU bloc imperialist stranglehold over the ACP states, the CARIFORUM-EU EPA, and conclude by focusing on the pushback against the EPAs.

Po pristupanju EU-u, 13 novih država članica preuzelo je i tradicionalne međunarodne odnose 15 starih država članica, među koje svakako spada i politički složena, financijski izdašna i pravno obvezujuća suradnja s bivšim kolonijama u dalekim zemljama s kojima je kontakt, znanje i prisutnost za nove članice i dalje ograničen. U jeku rasprave o budućnosti odnosa između EU-a i zemalja Afrike, Kariba i Pacifika nakon isteka Sporazuma iz Cotonoua 2020. godine, kojim su ovi odnosi politički, gospodarski i razvojno uokvireni, ovim radom obuhvaćeni su postojeći modeli i nove mogućnosti suradnje, naročito u razvojnoj domeni, promatrajući pritom nekoliko prevladavajućih čimbenika – vanjski u pogledu nove globalne arhitekture, izazova i dionika; unutarnji u pogledu nove, proširene Europske unije; i inherentni u pogledu novog razvojnog alata EU-a, koji je obogaćen iskustvima demokratske tranzicije novih članica. Rad je posebno usredotočen na položaj i mogućnosti Hrvatske kao najnovije države članice sa svojim izazovima, prilikama i preporučenom ulogom u ovome procesu. Koristeći metodu indukcije rad je započet deskriptivnom analizom sastavnica Sporazuma iz Cotonoua kao trenutnog okvira za odnose između EU-a i AKP-a da bi bio nastavljen sintezom ključnih elemenata novog globalnog razvojnogkonteksta. Poseban naglasak pritom je stavljen na element proširenog EU-a. U konačnici, ishod opažanja iskorišten je za donošenje zaključaka i konkretnih preporuka u pogledu nastavka suradnje dva bloka država. ; Having acceded to the European Union, the new Member States, or the EU13, as they are commonly called, have also acquired the traditional relationships of the older Member States, the EU15. Among them, the politically complex, financially massive and legally binding cooperation with former colonies in a very often far away land where contact, knowledge and presence is limited. With a view to the emerging post-Cotonou discussions within the EU, this paper examines how the relationship, in particular the development cooperation, between the EU and the ACP group of states can be advanced, having regard to several factors such as, externally, the new global architecture, challenges and stakeholders, internally, the new enlarged EU constellation, and inherently, the new upgraded development toolbox, enriched with the relatively fresh experience of democratic transition of the new Member States. Furthermore, Croatia, as the newest EU's enhancement, is taken into a more focused elaboration, with its obvious challenges, revealing opportunities and recommended role. Using the induction method, the paper begins with the descriptive analysis of the components of the Cotonou Agreement as a present framework for EUACP relations. It continues with a synthesis of the key elements of the new global development context, with a special emphasis put on the element of the enlarged EU. Subsequently, the results of the observation are used to establish conclusions and concrete recommendations for future cooperation between the two blocks of states.

Following the adoption of the Rome Treaty, the European Union (EU) developed a formal and privileged cooperation framework for its relationship with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP). Since 2000 cooperation between the EU and the ACP is governed through the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which encompasses three complementary dimensions: political dialogue, economic and trade cooperation, and development cooperation. The changing global context, along with institutional, political and socioeconomic developments in the EU and the ACP, raise questions about whether this approach to cooperation has sufficiently delivered on its objectives, and which evolutions – or revolutions – may be necessary for these regions' future cooperation. This paper seeks to complement existing evidence with the findings of a detailed review of the literature and the perceptions of past, present and future ACP–EU cooperation gathered from a wide range of stakeholders in ten ACP countries.