EU strikes trade deal with four African countries
26/11/2007 17:25
The European Union (EU) has initialed an interim trade agreement with four
Southern African countries, the European Commission announced yesterday.
The
agreement will apply initially to Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique,
with Angola ready to join as soon as possible.
The EU's executive arm said
South Africa and Namibia will also determine their participation in the
agreement in the coming days, adding the agreement was open to other parties in
the region to join when they wished.
"This is an historic step forward in the
relationship between the EU and Southern Africa," said EU Trade Commissioner
Peter Mandelson, who is now on a six-day visit to China.
The initial
agreement includes a WTO-compatible market access schedule and provisions on
development co-operation and other issues.
The European Commission said both
the EU and the Southern African countries will continue negotiations towards a
full Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in 2008.
Currently, the EU is
negotiating with the six regions of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group
(ACP) of countries on EPAs, which are designed to replace the existing Cotonou
Convention signed in June 2000.
The commission had hoped to formally sign
EPAs with ACP countries before December 31. However, it appeared only possible
so far to strike interim agreements on goods, with more sensitive issues such as
investment rules and services to be left for further talks.
Although the EU
said the new deal will help nearly 80 ACP countries develop economies and
attract foreign investment, aid groups and some ACP countries are opposing the
deal, saying it opens African economies up to too much competition since the EU
is demanding reciprocity of market access to ACP countries.
xinhua
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