The Economic Partnership Agreements : rationale, misperceptions and the non-trade aspects

Abstract

There has been much discussion and controversy surrounding the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) currently being negotiated between the EU and the African Caribbean and pacific (ACPs)countries. This paper aims to clarify this debate by addressing some common is perceptions in the existing assessments of the economic impact of the EPAs. It also elucidates the rationale for the EPA approach by explaining what the EPAs will be and, perhaps more importantly, what they will not be. The paper explains the reasons why the EU sees the EPAs as the only feasible means to secure the development of its ACP partners in a way which will be legally viable and thus acceptable to the non-ACP developing countries. Finally it sheds some light on the non-trade aspects of the EPAs that are rarely touched upon in existing studies.