1. EPAs and Trade Related Areas
Civil Society Dialogue
Economic Partnership Agreements with African, Carribean, and Pacific Countries
EPAs and Trade Related Areas
DG Trade, European Commission
Brussels, 18 May 2005

2. Selected issues by civil-society representatives
EC brings in Singapore issues through the back-door and will reduce ACP policy-space
ACP capacities not sufficient to negotiate trade-related issues
EC approach is not transparent
Access to medicines: IPR consensus before Cancun will be offset by bilateral agreements (example US agreements)

3. Main objective is to develop trade-related issues in a S-S context
EC key points
Main objective is to develop trade-related issues in a S-S context
Regional preference (eg. Gov. procurement or investment) including vis-à-vis EU is no problem
S-N dimension can only be defined when the S-S approach is agreed; example services

4. EC key points (continued)
Capacity constraints are key-feature of EPAs - is being tackled through regional task forces; capacity is a key requirement for implementation
Transparency, including on trade-related issues, to be improved - regional level, all-ACP, in Europe
Access to medicines: no plans to go beyond TRIPS

5. Questions for further discussion
How to tackle capacity constraints more meaningfully - relationship national and regional level?
How to enhance transparency
How to enter into more concrete discussions? progress in regional talks will help