Written answers

Thursday, 29 March 2012

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

International Agreements

1:00 pm

Photo of Jonathan O'BrienJonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 20: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his response to recent comments made by Vital Moreira, chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, stating that some African countries may have to start paying an 8.5% to 15.7% duty on their exports to Europe if they fail to sign Economic Partnership Agreement agreements by end 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17223/12]

Photo of Lucinda CreightonLucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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I am aware of the reported comments of Professor Vital Moreira when he led a European Parliament delegation to Kenya and Zambia last week in order to discuss the ongoing negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States.

The EU has been engaged in the negotiation of a series of new trade and development agreements with the ACP States since 2002. The negotiations are being carried out by the European Commission, on behalf of the European Community and the Member States. They were necessitated by rulings by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the unilateral trade preferences which the EU had previously granted to the ACP countries established unfair discrimination between developing countries.

The original aim had been to conclude comprehensive Agreements with six regional groupings of the ACP States by the end of 2007, the deadline set by the WTO. However, following a process of protracted and difficult negotiations, only one of the ACP regional groups, representing Caribbean States, was ready to initial an Economic Partnership Agreement by that date. In order to avoid trade disruption, interim Agreements were agreed and initialled at the end of 2007 with 21 other ACP States, either individually or in regional groupings. These interim Agreements provide for full duty and quota-free access to the European Union market but allow the ACP countries a flexible and asymmetric trade liberalisation schedule.

In recent years, there have been well-founded concerns that there was a need to restore momentum to the negotiations and revitalise the original shared commitment to the achievement of strong Agreements which serve the development needs of the ACP countries. Political leaders from both sides agreed at the EU-Africa Summit in November 2010 "to conclude Economic Partnership Agreements that support socio-economic development, regional integration and the integration of Africa into the global economy". As a result, the European Commission last year engaged actively and flexibly in renewed negotiations at the regional level. In tandem with this approach, at the end of September the Commission adopted the proposal, to which Professor Moreira referred, which would set a deadline of 1 January 2014 for the conclusion of the negotiations. This proposal will be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of EU Trade Ministers.

The Government accepts that the proposal seeks to put EU - ACP trade relations on a solid legal footing based on respect for WTO and EU law. I believe it is essential that the EU's negotiating approach is as flexible as possible under WTO law and underlines the importance of a strong partnership approach throughout the negotiations. It is encouraging that the EU Trade Ministers, at their most recent meeting on 16 March acknowledged the need for flexibility and pragmatism on both sides to find solutions to the outstanding issues. Ireland will continue in the coming months to work with our partners for Agreements which clearly support the development priorities and needs of the ACP countries. We will also work positively with the Commission on these issues during our Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2013.

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