Trade Relations Between the EU and Africa - Development, challenges and options beyond the Cotonou Agreement

Trade liberalisation and openness, as linchpins for development have been flagships of conventional economic policy advices to most African countries over the last few decades. Much of the orientation of the focus however has been on the impact of international trade on development rather than the requirements that development should inform the shaping of the international trading system so that African countries may be able to benefit from such trade. This view has permeated both academic debate and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Negotiation between the European Commission and groups of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. This timely volume advances an alternative set of inter-related, interdisciplinary perspectives and debates which contribute to overlapping genres and discourses, notably how rules of origins may stifle the development dimension of EPAs, how special agricultural safeguards may be used in balancing the effects of trade liberalisation on small farm holders in Africa. It also discusses the centrality of aid for trade in trade negotiations, and mainstreaming development in the EPAs debate to enhance domestic supply side in Africa and the various regional integration processes in the region. This book focuses on areas of trade that may inform the development dimension of international trade. With this edited volume, a team of specialists provide a comprehensive survey of ACP –EU trade and Africa trade relation in the global context, placing it in its legal, economic and political contexts. The book innovative approach coupled with a stimulating and accessible writing style, allows the reader to engage fully with the content. It will be of most value to students, scholars and related policymakers of international, development and trade economics.

Part 1: Africa-EU Trade Relations in the 21st Century: An Introduction, 1.Contextualising the Debate of the Africa-EU Trade Relations, Yenkong Ngangjoh-Hodu and Francis Shasha Matambalya, 2. Focus of the Debate of the Africa-EU Trade Relations Beyond the Cotonou Agreement, Yenkong Ngangjoh-Hodu and Francis Shasha Matambalya, Part 2: Development Dimensions and Poverty Alleviation in EPAs, 3. Development Agenda in the WTO Regional Processes: The European Union/ African, Caribbean and Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement in context, Yenkong Ngangjoh-Hodu, 4. The Development Dimension or Disillusion? EU’s Development Policy Goals and the Economic Partnership Agreements, Marikki Stocchetti, 5. EPAs and Poverty Alleviation: Any Link? The Case of the ESA Configuration, Shalini Ramessur-Seenarain, Part 3: Rules of Origin in the EPAS and WTO Regimes, 6. Rules of Origin, the European Union and the Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations, Peter Gibbons, 7. Effects of Rules of Origin on the European Union-Africa EPAs: Cumulation of Issues, Roberto Rios, Part 4: Market Access Challenges in the EPA and WTO Trade Regimes, 8. International Development Law and Preferential Trade Agreements Involving Developing Countries, Asif H Qureshi and Chotika Wittayawarakul, 9. Agricultural Safeguard Measures in the Context of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), Luisa Bernal and Heather Hampton, 10. EPAs, Cotonou and the WTO – Legal Dimensions, Amin Alavi, Part 5: Issues for EPA and WTO Negotiations for African Commodity Exports: Selected Country Case Studies, 11. Identifying Products of Defensive and Offensive Interests in Both EPA Trade Regime and WTO Negotiations for Commodity-Dependent ACP Economies: Lessons from an Empirical Review of Tanzania’s Agricultural Sector, Francis Shasha Matambalya, 12. Geographical Indications, Coffee and Economic Development: The Ethiopia – Starbucks Case, Jeremy Streatfield and James Watson, Part 6: Policy Implications and Conclusions, 13. Policy Implications, Yenkong Ngangjoh-Hodu and Francis Shasha Matambalya, 14. Conclusions, Yenkong Ngangjoh-Hodu and Francis Shasha Matambalya