Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The idea of economic partnership agreements, EPAs, is to combine trade and development. According to the EU, the various African, Caribbean and Pacific countries with which it wants to conclude these trade deals will not only benefit from these agreements in an economic way, but will do so in terms of human and social development. We refute these disingenuous claims as they include more than just a reduction in trade tariffs and result, in many cases, in negative consequences for workers, farmers and the poor in both jurisdictions.

Sinn Féin is opposed to many of these agreements as they can be exploitative. They are bilateral investment treaties on free trade, outside of the framework of the World Trade Organization, which ensure the EU is in a far more powerful position compared to the countries and blocs mentioned. We strongly support increased trade between Ireland and Africa, and the EU and Africa, but this trade should be fair, sustainable and mutually beneficial. CONCORD, a European NGO confederation for relief and development, has stated that it regrets that the EU, the largest economic zone in the world, is trying to obtain disproportionate commercial concessions from West Africa, one of the poorest regions in the world, with this economic partnership agreement. The EU should not be using its economic power to undermine and stagnate development in West Africa.

CONCORD also believes that with this EPA West Africa will have less policy space to use important tools for the development of certain economic sectors in order to improve the living conditions of its people and, as a result, the EPA is incompatible with the development of West Africa. While trading as a bloc is good for regional integration in West Africa, the level of integration of West Africa is very weak. Rather than trying to set up a free trade zone with West Africa, the EU could have given priority to stronger regional integration within West Africa itself. CONCORD also points out that the EPA still holds a risk for West African agriculture and West African farmers expressed these fears in their December 2014 open letter to parliamentarians in Europe, calling the EPA an economic pauperisation agreement.

During the debate in the meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Government said that the poultry and dairy industries in West Africa would be protected or removed from liberalisation requirements under the EPA, but this can safely be called "spin". If Article 34 of the EPA is applied, there is nothing to prevent EU poultry and dairy products flooding into countries that have signed the EPA in far greater volumes than they are already. If these EPAs are to be agreed, I will be formally requesting that the Government reports back to the Oireachtas regularly to show that the most damaging aspects, such as Article 34, are not being rigidly applied.

The EU-CARIFORUM EPA was voted on and consented to in the Parliament on 25 March 2009 and is now in force. It is incredible to think that it took so long for it to come before the Oireachtas and that it has been in force for over six years without the approval of the Oireachtas. This is crazy stuff.

These economic partnership agreements also raise some serious concerns because development considerations are absent and trade interests have instead been allowed to prevail. Thus, the European Union takes with one hand what it gives with the other. This demonstrates the manifest incompatibility between the EPAs and development objectives. On those grounds, Sinn Féin will formally oppose the motion.

See this speech in context