Economic Partnership Agreements and European-African, Caribbean and Pacific Development Cooperation

Economic Partnership Agreements and European-African, Caribbean and Pacific Development Cooperation

Authors: Emmanuel Ugwuerua, Dr. Owa Egbara Owa, Dr. John Nsor Okongo, Wisdom Egbara Owa

Abstract

The paper examined the impact of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) on Regional Governance with specific focus on the European Union (EU)- African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Cooperation. The EPAS were introduced under the trade pillar of Contonou Partnership Agreement (CPA), which governs relations between EU and the ACP to introduce reciprocity into trade preferences and are organized on a regional basis, with the aim of promoting regional integration with the ACP. From the analysis of the variables considered, it was observed that EPAs have been only partially effective in facilitating regional integration in the ACP. It is among other recommendations that, a post Cotonou framework for cooperation between the EU and ACP states should try to reduce this inconsistency in order to promote greater harmonization on regional initiatives in Africa. Policy makers should consider reformulating post 2020 relations along more regional lines in the medium to long-term, while in the short term the EU should consider extending the deadline. This shall avoid pushing non-Least Developed Countries(LDCs) in West Africa and East African Community (EAC) into breaking away from their regional EPAs in favour of bilateral EPAs, which will only serve to introduce an extra layer of complexity to the ‘spaghetti bowl’ of African regionalism.

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