26 March 2009
Brussels, 25/03/2009 (Agence Europe)
In Strasbourg on 25 March, the European Parliament gave its assent to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the Cariforum, and the interim EPA between the EU and the Côte d'Ivoire, until an EPA is concluded with the whole West Africa region. The reassurances brought by European Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton on Monday 23 March had clearly overcome the fears of most MEPs that the priority in these agreements was not the development of ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries - fears expressed in the debate preceding the vote. “I have no interest in agreements that make any country in the ACP worse off,” the Commissioner had said, assuring MEPs that the EPAs would reflect and respect the different partners' needs and interests in a flexible manner, without forcing them to negotiate on the “Singapore questions” or harming their efforts on regional integration (see EUROEP 9868).
Parliament, however, clearly stated that it intends to keep a close watch on the European Commission in the implementation of these agreements.
In adopting the report by David Martin (PES, UK), rapporteur on the EU-Cariforum EPA - the first and only full EPA hitherto concluded of the eight negotiated between the EU and six ACP regions since 2002 - MEPs approved, by 460 votes to 82, with 43 abstentions, the phased trade liberalisation agreement between the EU and 13 Cariforum countries (Haiti has until 2010 to join). In a resolution adopted on the same day (by 568 votes to 94, with 15 abstentions), Parliament demanded that the Commission ensure that provisions on intellectual property rights are not used to thwart legitimate competition by suppliers of generic medicines or to prevent public bodies responsible for purchasing medicines to buy generic medicines. It also called on the Commission not to seek to impose harmonised standards on intellectual property rights, which are not suited to the level of development of the Cariforum states. Parliament welcomed the full and compulsory re-assessment of the EPA at most five years after its signature.
The interim EPA with Côte d'Ivoire received the assent of Parliament by 457 votes to 80, with 42 abstentions. In following the views of rapporteur Erika Mann (PES, Germany), MEPs decided that this interim EPA provided a reasonable provisional solution while negotiations continue on a definitive EPA with the West Africa region as a whole.
In a resolution adopted by 568 votes to 65, with 50 abstentions, Parliament called on the Commission to carefully monitor the economic consequences of this provisional agreement, and said that it believed that the full EPA should contain a chapter on political dialogue and human rights and that a full EPA would be of great benefit to the citizens of the Côte d'Ivoire if a responsible, democratically elected government was in place. The authorities of the Côte d'Ivoire were called on to encourage and protect SMEs, and Parliament welcomed the fact that the interim agreement gives small companies 15 years to adapt tot eh changes.
The Greens/EFA and GUE groups voted against these two EPAs. “Under pressure from the World Trade Organisation, Europe has abandoned cooperation agreements with ACP countries and replaced them with economic partnership agreements with sub-regions and isolated countries,” regretted Alain Lipietz (Greens/EFA, France). Referring to “agreements, imposed by Europe, and violently rejected by civil organisations and researchers in these countries”, he believes that “Europe should give up paternalism without adopting an attitude of a cynical hooligan for all that”. He denounced complete liberalisation of services with the Cariforum countries almost half of which are recognised as tax havens.
With regard to the Côte d'Ivoire, the Greens/EFA felt this was not the right time to sign an international agreement with long-term consequences with a country already suffering from internal conflicts and without a legitimate government, as Caroline Lucas (Greens, UK) pointed out.
The PES group welcomed Ashton's commitment to act for all countries to ensure total flexibility, particularly on the review clause and the treatment of sensitive products. However, Parliament's approval of the first two EPAs “is not a blank cheque and does not mean we will automatically give the go-ahead to further agreements,” warned Mann. As soon as the outcome was known, Ashton expressed her pleasure. “I welcome the Parliament's vote on the Economic Partnership Agreements. It is an important political signal that the European Parliament has given its assent to the first examples of a new generation of agreements that safeguard the EU's special relationship with the ACVP. I look forward to continuing the close cooperation with the Parliament on this issue, as well as on many others,” she said. It will be for the next Parliament to give its assent to the six other EPAs.
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