European Parliament resolution of 23 May 2007 on Economic Partnership Agreements (2005/2246(INI))
Date: 2007-05-23
Institutions: Committee on International Trade, European Parliament
Subjects: ACP countries, economic agreement, economic cooperation, economic development, international negotiations, liberalisation of trade, market access

24.4.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 102 E/301

Wednesday 23 May 2007

73.
Requests explicitly that the bi-annual report contain specific information on the history of the mea-
sures financed, where appropriate showing results of monitoring and evaluation exercises, the involvement
of the relevant partners, and the implementation of the pledges and budget commitments and payments,
broken down by country, region and category of assistance; requests that the report also assess the progress
made in mainstreaming trade into aid programming and the results achieved with the assistance, using, as
far as possible, specific and measurable indicators of its role in meeting the AfT objectives;

74.
Stresses that the Commission should submit to Parliament and the Council, no later than 31 Decem-
ber 2010, a second report evaluating the implementation of, and results obtained with, AfT assistance, if
appropriate, together with a proposal to increase the budget for AfT and to introduce the necessary mod-
ifications to the AfT strategy and its implementation;

*

*

*

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of

75.
the Member States, the ACP-EU Council and the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

P6_TA(2007)0204

Economic partnership agreements

European Parliament

resolution of 23 May 2007 on Economic Partnership Agreements

(2005/2246(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolutions of 13 December 2001 on the WTO meeting in Qatar (1), of 25 Sep-
tember 2003 on the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in Cancún (2), of
12 May 2005 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO General Council Decision of
1 August 2004 (3), of 6 July 2005 on the Global Call
to Action: Making Poverty History (4), of
1 December 2005 on the preparations for the sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organi-
sation in Hong Kong (5), of 23 March 2006 on the development impact of Economic Partnership
Agreements (EPAs) (6), of 4 April 2006 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO
Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong (7), of 1 June 2006 on trade and poverty: designing trade policies
to maximise trade's contribution to poverty relief (8), and of 7 September 2006 on the suspension of
negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (9) (DDA),

— having regard to the resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly of 23 November 2006,
adopted in Barbados, on the review of negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs),

— having regard to the Cape Town Declaration, adopted unanimously on 21 March 2002 by the ACP-EU
Joint Parliamentary Assembly, calling for the establishment of developmental benchmarks against which
the conduct and outcome of the ACP-EU trade negotiations are to be assessed,

(1) OJ C 177 E, 25.7.2002, p. 290.
(2) OJ C 77 E, 26.3.2004, p. 393.
(3) OJ C 92 E, 20.4.2006, p. 397.
(4) OJ C 157 E, 6.7.2006, p. 397.
(5) OJ C 285 E, 22.11.2006, p. 126.
(6) OJ C 292 E, 1.12.2006, p. 121.
(7) OJ C 293 E, 2.12.2006, p. 155.
(8) OJ C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 261.
(9) OJ C 305 E, 14.12.2006, p. 244.

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Wednesday 23 May 2007

— having regard to the declaration of the Annual 2006 Session of the Parliamentary Conference on the

WTO, adopted on 2 December 2006 in Geneva,

— having regard to its position of 9 March 2005 on the proposal for a Council regulation applying a

scheme of generalised tariff preferences (1),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 980/2005 of 27 June 2005 applying a scheme of general-

ised tariff preferences (2),

— having regard to the Partnership agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific
Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other
part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (the Cotonou Agreement),

— having regard to the Conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 10 and
11 April 2006 and 16 and 17 October 2006 and the Conclusions of the European Council of 15
and 16 June 2006,

— having regard to the Joint statement by the Council and the representatives of the governments of
the Member States meeting within the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission on
‘The European Consensus’ (The European Consensus on
the European Union Development Policy:
Development) signed on 20 December 2005 (3),

— having regard to the Commission Staff Working Document entitled ‘The Trade and Development

Aspects of EPA Negotiations’ (SEC(2005)1459),

— having regard to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in particular Article XXIV thereof,

— having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference,

adopted on 14 November 2001 in Doha,

— having regard to the Decision adopted by the WTO General Council on 1 August 2004,

— having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of the Sixth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference,

adopted on 18 December 2005 in Hong Kong,

— having regard to the report and recommendations of the Task Force on Aid for Trade, adopted by the

WTO General Council on 10 October 2006,

— having regard to the Sutherland Report on the future of the WTO,

— having regard to the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, which sets out the
Millennium Development Goals as criteria collectively established by the international community for
the elimination of poverty,

— having regard to the United Nations 2005 World Summit Outcome,

— having regard to the report by the UN Millennium Project Task Force headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs
entitled ‘Investing in Development: a practical plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals’,

(1) OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005, p. 145.
(2) OJ L 169, 30.6.2005, p. 1.
(3) OJ C 46, 24.2.2006, p. 1.

24.4.2008

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Wednesday 23 May 2007

— having regard to the Gleneagles Communiqué, released on 8 July 2005 by the Group of Eight in

Gleneagles,

— having regard to the Report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

— The Least Developed Countries 2006: Developing Productive Capacities,

— having regard to the Economic Report on Africa 2004 entitled ‘Unlocking Africa's Trade Potential’ by

the UN Economic Commission for Africa,

— having regard to the ACP Guidelines for the Negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements, adopted
by the ACP Council of Ministers on 27 June 2002 in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), and the
decision on the negotiation of EPAs and participation in international trade, adopted by the 3rd Sum-
mit of ACP Heads of State and Government on 19 July 2002 in Nadi (Fiji),

— having regard to the Declaration of the 4th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government, held on
23 and 24 June 2004 in Maputo, Mozambique, with regard to the economic development dimension,

— having regard to the Declaration of the 81st Session of the ACP Council of Ministers, held in Brussels

on 21and 22 June 2005,

— having regard to Decision No 2/LXXXIII/06 of the 83rd Session of the ACP Council of Ministers, held

in Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) from 28 to 31 May 2006,

— having regard to the Declaration issued by the 5th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government in

Khartoum (Sudan) on 8 December 2006,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade (A6-0084/2007),

A. whereas the EU's existing trade relationship with the ACP countries — which gives the latter preferen-
tial access to EU markets on a non-reciprocal basis — does not comply with the rules of the World
Trade Organization (WTO),

B. whereas the Cotonou Agreement sets out the Parties' agreement to conclude new WTO-compatible
trading arrangements, progressively removing barriers to trade between them and enhancing coopera-
tion in all areas relevant to trade and development,

C. whereas negotiations are not progressing at the same pace in the six regions, leading to concerns that

they will not be completed in all regions before the end of 2007,

D. whereas there is widespread concern that the negotiations have not advanced as far as they should have

done at this stage of the negotiation process,

E. whereas failure on both sides to put forward, and respond to, proposals in a timely fashion has been a

major reason for delay,

F. whereas another formal WTO waiver would be politically costly and difficult to achieve,

G. whereas, in many ACP countries, information on, and involvement in, the EPA process at a country

level has been worryingly low,

H. whereas the lack of progress made in the negotiations of the DDA at the WTO renders the EPA

negotiations more difficult,

I. whereas both parties agree on the centrality of the ‘development dimension’ to EPAs, but negotiators

have thus far failed to reach agreement on a common definition of the concept,

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J. whereas it is essential that EPAs should contribute to sustainable social and economic development and

to the alleviation of poverty in ACP countries,

K. whereas, in an increasingly globalised world, preference erosion is inevitable,

L. whereas Everything but Arms (EBA) has so far failed to give rise to a significant increase in Least
Developed Countries' (LDCs) exports to the EU; whereas that suggests that tariff and quota liberalisation
alone do not make poor countries more competitive,

M. whereas increased reciprocity between the EU and the ACP countries should spur the competitiveness
of ACP countries but it is likely to harm uncompetitive industries, the agricultural sector, which has
hardly been modernised or diversified, and fragile economies,

N. whereas EPA configurations are not always in line with existing regional economic integration arrange-
ments, thus running counter to the priority objective of consolidating regional integration in the ACP
countries,

O. whereas agriculture is the engine of development in most ACP countries and in order for EPAs to
become a development tool, they must address the challenges faced by the ACP agricultural sector,

P. whereas establishing a genuine regional market represents an essential basis for successfully implement-
ing EPAs; whereas genuine regional integration represents an important basis for the social and eco-
nomic development of the ACP countries, as is stated in the Cotonou agreement,

Q. whereas an increase in intra-regional trade, as is intended by the EPAs, is hindered by weak intraregional

infrastructure and a wide range of non-tariff barriers to trade,

R. whereas the failure of the Regional Preparatory Task Forces to carry out their intended function
has hindered negotiations and raised questions about the future efficacy of EPA-related monitoring
mechanisms,

S. whereas a lack of analytical data in relation to ACP economies has made full EPA impact assessments

very difficult to carry out,

T. whereas improved trade rules must be accompanied by an increase in support

for trade-related

assistance,

U. whereas the objective of Aid for Trade is to support developing countries' capacities to take advantage

of new trade opportunities,

V. whereas a solution to the issue of adjustment costs, relating to preparations and implementation of

liberalisation required as part of the EPAs, must be found,

W. whereas, pursuant to Article 37(4) of the Cotonou Agreement, a formal and comprehensive review of
the arrangements planned for all countries must be undertaken in order to ensure that no further time
is needed for preparations or negotiations; whereas that review must lead to a critical assessment of the
EPA negotiations in progress;

Believes that EPAs must be designed as instruments for development and that they must contribute to

1.
increased economic growth, regional integration and the reduction of poverty;

Reaffirms its view that, if appropriately designed, EPAs represent an opportunity to revitalise ACP —
2.
EU trading relations, promote ACP economic diversification and regional integration and to reduce poverty
in the ACP countries;

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3.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure policy coherence for development; stresses
that the ‘European Consensus on Development’ (Development Policy Statement, DSP), in particular para-
graph 36, provides the EPA negotiators with guidance; urges, in this respect, the Commission to adhere to
the principles of asymmetry and flexibility;

Wednesday 23 May 2007

4.
Recognises that it is important for the ACP countries and the EU to fully assume the necessary
responsibility to ensure the right of ACP countries to development and well being; urges ACP governments
to implement good governance rules, drawing, inter alia, on the technical assistance provided for under the
Aid for Trade instrument;

Recalls that, by the end of the EPA negotiations no ACP country should, in its trade relations, find

5.
itself in a more unfavourable situation after 2007 than under current arrangements;

Expresses concern at the slow pace of the negotiations and the consequent lack of tangible progress,

6.
with many critical issues yet to be discussed or agreed upon;

Urges negotiators not to work under excessive pressure or in a hurry on such complex and extremely

7.
important negotiations; urges the Commission to show more flexibility towards ACP concerns;

Calls on the Commission not to exert undue pressure and — in the event of negotiations not being
8.
completed by 1 January 2008 — make efforts at WTO level to seek to ensure that disruption of existing
ACP exports to the EU is avoided pending a final settlement;

Calls for greater transparency on the progress and substance of the negotiations; calls for all parties to
9.
ensure that parliamentarians and other stakeholders in the ACP countries and the EU are consulted on the
EPA negotiations so as to achieve an appropriate implementation of EPAs;

Calls on the Commission to do its utmost to conclude the negotiations on the DDA and ensure that

10.
the liberalisation agreements promote development in poor countries;

Is convinced that EPAs should be complementary to an agreement on the DDA and not an alterna-
11.
tive, and that a pro-development conclusion to EPAs could be a first step towards a development-focused
multilateral agreement;

12.
Recognises that preferential market access has not been a sufficient tool in itself to bring about the
development of the ACP countries and maintains that, in order to achieve that goal, flanking measures need
to be put in place to boost their competitiveness;

13.
Calls for full duty-free, quota-free market access for the ACP as well as simplified, liberalised and
more flexible rules of origin in EPAs than is the case under EBA, taking into account the differences in
the level of industrial development between the EU and the ACP countries as well as among ACP countries;

14.
Calls for the pace, timing and scope of liberalisation to be gradual and flexible in order to improve
ACP regional integration and competitiveness, and to ensure that development objectives, such as the avoid-
ance of adverse social impacts, particularly towards women, are given priority;

15.
Calls for the special case of the EU Member States' overseas regions and territories to be taken fully
into account in the EPA negotiations, especially the outermost regions referred to in Article 299(2) of the
EC Treaty;

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Urges ACP countries to resolve the problem pertaining to the membership of overlapping regional

16.
groups;

Calls for negotiators to develop a strategy for diversifying, modernising, and boosting ACP competi-

17.
tiveness — particularly in the agricultural sector — thus going beyond market access;

Recognises that workable safeguard mechanisms, allowing ACP regions to counter surges in imports

18.
from the EU, are essential, particularly for agricultural products;

Calls on the EU to promote Fair Trade and other means to improve conditions for small and margin-

19.
alised producers and poor workers;

Reminds the negotiators that, when improving agricultural competitiveness strategies in ACP coun-

20.
tries, due regard should be paid to food security;

Stresses that it is essential to ensure that ACP countries preserve the right to protect some sensitive

21.
products;

22.
Recognises that the Sustainable Impact Assessments (SIAs) have failed to have a meaningful impact
on negotiations and calls on the Commission to clarify and review the link between SIAs and negotiating
positions, in order to give stakeholders the opportunity to be heard;

Calls for an appropriate and transparent monitoring mechanism — with a clear role and influence
23.
— to be set up at both regional and national levels in order to follow the impact of EPAs with increased
ACP ownership and broad stakeholder consultation;

Calls on the Council and the Commission to clarify the extent to which the financing of the ‘devel-

24.
opment dimension’ of EPAs will be available beyond the 10th European Development Fund (EDF);

25. Welcomes the conclusion of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 16 October 2006
that ‘a substantial share of the Community and Member States' commitment to increase their trade-related
assistance to EUR 2 billion by 2010 has to be devoted to the ACP countries’, though regrets that not all of
this money is ‘additional to EDF resources’ and urges the Commission and Member States to clarify the
precise terms of these commitments, to guarantee that this assistance is not conditional on the outcome of
EPA negotiations, and to work towards significantly increasing the amount of available Aid for Trade as
demand from ACP states increases;

Endorses the Council's invitation to the Commission and the Member States to support ‘as an
26.
immediate priority the implementation of EPA-related reform commitments’ and calls for concrete commit-
ments to be made prior to the conclusion of EPA negotiations, which are detailed, quantified and specifically
EPA-related, addressing both trade-related assistance and the adjustment costs associated with EPAs;

Calls for EPA support to be coordinated and linked to the multi-lateral Aid for Trade enhanced

27.
integrated framework;

28.
Insists that, in keeping with the Paris Principles on Aid Effectiveness, aid must be, inter alia, demand-
driven, and calls on the ACP, therefore, to put forward, with appropriate EU-assistance where required,
detailed, costed proposals of how and for what additional EPA-related funds are needed, particularly with
regard to regulatory frameworks, safeguard measures, trade facilitation, support in meeting international
sanitary and phytosanitary and intellectual property standards, and the composition of the EPA monitoring
mechanism;

Asks the Commission, when requested, to provide ACP countries with additional technical assistance

29.
for trade negotiations;

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Calls on the Commission to provide assistance, when requested, to ACP countries which decide to

30.
undertake fiscal reform programmes;

Wednesday 23 May 2007

31.
Notes the poor levels of revenue collection in many ACP countries and calls for additional support
for tax reforms and measures for the prevention of tax evasion, as part of a strategy to minimise the effect
of lost tariff revenues; is also worried about the impact of falling customs revenue on ACP budgets, which
could entail public spending cuts in key sectors such as education or health; calls on the EU to help to set
up the compensation mechanisms required to avert consequences of this sort;

32.
Recalls that ACP countries are often heavily dependent on primary commodities, and calls on the EU
to develop more effective instruments of support in relation to production adjustment and diversification,
as well as to the development of processing industries and small and medium-sized enterprises in ACP
countries;

Understands ACP reluctance to negotiate bilaterally on so-called Singapore issues which have been
33.
removed from multilateral negotiations and recognises that it is for ACP regional groups to judge the
development benefits of any agreements on these issues; recalls the fact that 77 poor countries opposed
the inclusion of negotiations on Singapore issues in the DDA agenda;

34.
Believes that appropriately framed agreements on investment, competition and government procure-
ment, accompanied by a credible regulatory environment, could contribute to shared aims of good govern-
ance and transparency, creating an environment that should enable greater private-public partnership, parti-
cularly in relation to key infrastructure development;

35.
Expresses disappointment at the fact that so far insufficient advantage has been taken of the oppor-
tunity provided by the review to involve parliamentarians and other stakeholders; believes that the inclusion
of key stakeholders and civil society representatives would add a crucial practical and pragmatic dimension
to this process;

36.
Recognises the social and environmental responsibilities of foreign businesses and investors towards
the communities and societies in which they invest; believes that people-to-people business and investment
contacts should be encouraged and facilitated in order to maximise the social and economic benefits of
increased liberalisation;

37.
Urges the Commission and the ACP countries to use the EPA review as an opportunity to openly
discuss the obstacles to the completion of negotiations and to put forward detailed proposals to overcome
them;

Recalls ACP requests in a number of fora for alternatives to EPAs, but notes the absence of official

38.
ACP requests under Article 37(6) of the Cotonou Agreement;

39.
Requests the Commission, in accordance with Article 37(6) of the Cotonou Agreement, where non-
least developed ACP countries are not in a position to enter into EPAs, to examine possible ways of offering
those countries an alternative framework for trade, which is equivalent to the existing situation and which is
in conformity with WTO rules;

Asks the Commission to make proposals for development-oriented alternatives that offer more than
40.
mere market access, as is the case for EBA and the special incentive arrangement for sustainable develop-
ment and good governance (GSP+);

41.

Calls on the Commission to promote social standards and decent work in the EPA trade negotiations;

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Wednesday 23 May 2007

Calls on the Commission to clarify the implications,

42.
support, for countries that choose not to sign up to EPAs;

in terms of Aid for Trade and EPA-related

43.
Calls on the Commission and the Council to simplify and reduce the bureaucratic burden of EDF
requirements and to improve training, in the ACP, in relation to EDF procedures in order to maximise the
use of existing resources;

44.
Recalls that bilateral negotiations on trade in services must abstain from pressuring ACP countries
into offering any liberalisation of basic public services, respect the right of countries to freely regulate public
services and calls on both parties to recognise that sound regulatory frameworks are an essential part of any
liberalisation process;

45.
Calls for the EU not to include, in EPAs, provisions on intellectual property rights, since they con-
stitute an additional barrier to access to essential medicines and to use the EPA system to help ACP coun-
tries implement the forms of flexibility provided for in the Doha Declaration; points out that, by virtue of
the 2001 Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, the EU has undertaken to place
public health before its trading interests;

46.
Stresses that the regional aspect of EPAs is essential for boosting not only North-South but also
South-South trade; considers that insufficient attention has been paid to that matter by the European side
and that achieving proper intra-regional integration may even be more important than launching a pro-
gramme for inter-regional integration;

Calls for a dispute settlement system for EPAs, which is sufficiently simple and cost-effective, to

47.
promptly intervene when parties fail to meet their commitments;

Calls for appropriate proposals to be made in order to address ACP concerns on Mode IV of the

48.
GATS;

49.
Recommends that the Commission ensure that the international programme on Decent Work and
the implementation of core labour standards become permanent elements in trade negotiations and strategic
partnerships; calls on the Commission to ensure the implementation of Article 50 of the Cotonou Agree-
ment, which includes a specific provision on trade and labour standards and which confirms the parties'
commitments to core labour standards;

50.
Recognises that high phytosanitary and other EU health and environmental standards may hinder
ACP exports, particularly of agricultural goods, and calls on the Commission and Member States to help
ACP countries to devise adequate programmes to reach these standards in a timely fashion;

51.
Calls on the Commission to take the initiative and to mobilise international support for a revision or
clarification of Article XXIV of the GATT Agreement with regard to the Free Trade Agreements between
parties with different levels of development;

52.
Calls on the Commission to carry out a systematic analysis, during the negotiations and following
their conclusion, of the social impact of EPAs on the groups most at risk, including young people and
women in the ACP countries;

Recognises the importance of parliamentary oversight in contributing to good governance, account-

53.
ability and transparency;

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Wednesday 23 May 2007

54.
Calls for the creation of a joint Parliamentary Trade and Development Committee within each Eco-
nomic Partnership Agreement working with the ACP-EU JPA to publicly monitor and review the trade and
development impact of EPA implementation, to design mechanisms to ensure accountability and to address
EPA-related concerns from both regional and all-ACP perspectives;

55.
Urges the Commission to regularly consult with national parliaments in ACP countries in order to
facilitate their scrutiny of the process and, furthermore, recommends that there should be regular follow-up
by the relevant Committee of the JPA and by European and ACP parliamentarians in plenary sessions;

56.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States and of the ACP countries, the ACP-EU Council and the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly.

P6_TA(2007)0205

Common Foreign and Security Policy 2005

European Parliament resolution of 23 May 2007 on the annual report from the Council to
the European Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of CFSP, including the financial
implications for the general budget of the European Union — 2005 (2006/2217(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the annual report from the Council (10314/1/2006),

— having regard to Article 21 of the EU Treaty,

— having regard to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (Constitutional Treaty), signed in

Rome on 29 October 2004,

— having regard to the European Security Strategy (ESS) adopted by the European Council on 12 Decem-

ber 2003,

— having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the
Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure (1),
and in particular paragraph 40 thereof,

— having regard to its decision of 17 May 2006 on the conclusion of an interinstitutional agreement on

budgetary discipline and sound financial management (2),

— having regard to the Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 16-17 June 2005 and
in particular to its declaration on ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, as
well as to the Presidency Conclusions of the European Councils of 15-16 June and 14-15 December
2006,

— having regard to the Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 15-16 December

2005 on the Financial Perspective 2007-2013,

— having regard to its resolution of 12 January 2005 on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for

Europe (3),

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 297 E, 7.12.2006, p. 182.
(3) OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 88.