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ECOWAS, EU committed to 'mutually-beneficial EPA'

13 Oct 2007

ECOWAS and the EU have restated their commitment and determination to conclude a mutually-beneficial Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), capable of contributing to the socio-economic development of West Africa.

Click HereThe parties made the commitment as part of their discussion on the EPA negotiation for the creation of a free trade area of their two regions, during the 12th Ministerial Troika meeting of ECOWAS and the EU in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 11 Oct., an ECOWAS statement said Saturday.

While ECOWAS restated the observations of the 5 Oct. 2007 meeting of the West African Ministerial Monitoring Committee held in Abidjan, that the conditions cannot be met for concluding the negotiations by December 2007, it urged the EU to summit a request to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to extend 2001 subsisting waiver.

But the EU said the waiver was not only inconsistent with the commitment to treat developing countries equitably under the EU trade preferences, but also with the Cotonou Agreement of 2000.

On the issue of migration, they welcomed the report of the meeting of the ECOWAS/EU joint group on migration held in Ouagadougou 10 Oct., and agreed to deepen cooperation in six areas.

These include migration and development, regular and irregular migration, strengthening operational cooperation in migration, migration and Diaspora as well as migration and gender.

ECOWAS and the EU welcomed the progress made in the preparation of a Joint EU-African Strategy and a first Plan of Action for the period 2008-2009, due to be approved during the 2nd EU-African Summit in Lisbon in December 2007.

The 12th ministerial Troika meeting was co-chaired by Djibrill Yipènè Bassolé, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of Burkina Faso and Chairman of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council, and Joao Gomes Cravinho, the Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, representing the current Chairman of the EU Council of Ministers.

The ECOWAS troika also included the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ghana, Charles Y. Brimpong; the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, Bagudu Mutle Hirse; President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mohamed Ibn Chambas and the President of the UEMOA Commission, Soumaila Cissé.

For Resource <Click Here>  
Released on: 13 October 2007