Ethiopia and EPA Negotiation 2008 - FES Ethiopia
Ethiopia and EPA Negotiation 2008 - FES Ethiopia
Ethiopia and EPA Negotiation 2008 - FES Ethiopia
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negotiation on the Full <strong>EPA</strong> with EC. The ESA Group meeting technical discussion<br />
was focused on the issue of market access, services <strong>and</strong> trade related issues.<br />
The market access meeting tried to advance negotiations on trade facilitation,<br />
SPS, TBT <strong>and</strong> some of the contentious issues in the Interim text on trade in goods.<br />
The objectives of the technical meeting on trade in services is to build consensus<br />
on the importance of services in the <strong>EPA</strong> context, review of positions of other<br />
regions <strong>and</strong> EC proposals on trade in services in the <strong>EPA</strong> context. On trade<br />
related issues, the approach is to discuss capacity building, technical assistance<br />
<strong>and</strong> where appropriate rules on the issues of government procurement,<br />
competition policy, intellectual property rights <strong>and</strong> investment. Most importantly,<br />
this meeting will be followed by the 13 th Summit of COMESA <strong>and</strong> the 10 th ESA<br />
Council <strong>and</strong> ESA technical meeting <strong>and</strong> ESA-EC negotiators meeting in mid-<br />
May. <strong>EPA</strong> will be a major subject of consideration in these meetings, in particular<br />
the progress of negotiations <strong>and</strong> our regional integration agenda, <strong>and</strong> avoid<br />
discord between <strong>EPA</strong> <strong>and</strong> regional integration.<br />
The EAC also held similar discussion with EC in Brussels in April. 43 This shows there is<br />
already fragmentation within the regions as EAC <strong>and</strong> most of the ESA countries<br />
part ways in continuing the negotiation with EC. Kenya, however, is participating<br />
in both the ESA <strong>and</strong> EAC negotiation with the EU. Their participation in both<br />
configurations will mean that the Kenyans tend to have a broader <strong>and</strong> deeper<br />
perspective in the negotiations although they weren’t chosen to chair any of<br />
the technical groups. Ug<strong>and</strong>a, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, had written the COMESA<br />
Secretariat that it had withdrawn from the ESA configuration. It is hoped the<br />
COMESA summit will address this problem of negotiation configuration. One<br />
possible way resolving the configuration problem can be the simple restoration<br />
of the ESA configuration. This approach, however, will mean that the different<br />
liberalization schedules of the ESA signatories <strong>and</strong> EAC be aligned <strong>and</strong><br />
harmonized. It will also mean that it should be acceptable to the non-signatories<br />
who will be party to the full <strong>EPA</strong>.<br />
In addition, all ESA members, including the EAC countries, might try to<br />
coordinate <strong>and</strong> harmonise their positions in the negotiation of a comprehensive<br />
<strong>EPA</strong> with the EU. More recently, EAC Ministers tabled a proposal to their SADC<br />
<strong>and</strong> ESA partners which aim to create a larger trading bloc encompassing<br />
COMESA <strong>and</strong> SADC ‘in order to eliminate friction amongst<br />
states over deals signed with partners outside the continent’. 44 While it is too<br />
early to tell whether <strong>and</strong> when this will materialise, a tripartite summit among<br />
43 Author’s discussion with EAC negotiators in Lilongwe, Malawi, 20 April <strong>2008</strong><br />
44<br />
Ministers propose bigger East African trading bloc, Allan Odhiambo, Business Daily Africa, 13 February <strong>2008</strong>,<br />
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5847&Itemid=5813<br />
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