Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 258: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the manner in which she plans to consult with the Government and civil society here in respect of Ireland's priority aid countries as part of the comprehensive review process of the ACP-EU Economic Partnership agreement negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22873/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) will involve a major transformation of the relationship between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. Cognisant of this, I have made the EPAs a priority since taking office almost two years ago.

I have spoken on the subject on numerous occasions, both in Dáil Éireann and at the meetings around the country to prepare for the forthcoming White Paper on Development Cooperation, where the public showed an active interest in the EPAs. I have also discussed EPAs on a number of occasions in my meetings with the NGO community.

As the EPAs appear on the agenda of the Council's Article 133 Committee, which is the EU's main official-level policy-making body in respect of international trade, they form part of the coordination process between my Department, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Agriculture to prepare for meetings of this Committee.

At the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial meeting last December, I held bilateral meetings with our ACP Programme Countries, where they outlined their concerns about the EPAs. In view of these concerns, I have commissioned research on the fiscal impact of the EPAs, including on our Programme Countries. When the research work is complete, I would intend to share its findings with civil society and other interested parties. My Department is also planning a discussion of the work with the authors of the research in early July and will invite civil society representatives to attend.

Since trade is a Community competence, it is of course the European Commission that is undertaking the EPA negotiations on behalf of EU Member States, and the Commission that will also carry out the mid-term review, mandated by the 2000 Cotonou Agreement. At the April meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), which I attended, Ministers called on the Council to make the review "formal and comprehensive with participation from the ACP side". Ministers further asked that the review cover "both trade and development aspects of the EPAs, including cross-cutting issues affecting the development prospects of all ACP countries (e.g. market access and rules of origin, regulatory and safeguard provisions etc)" as well as "necessary measures to support the timely completion of the negotiations."

I welcome the valuable opportunity the EPA review will provide to take stock of progress to date and to address the concerns of our ACP partners. Ireland is keeping the negotiations under close scrutiny and we will continue to stress the need for the EPAs to be supportive of ACP countries' development needs and their poverty reduction efforts.