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ACP regionalism: thwarted by EPAs and interim agreements on services and investment

ACP regionalism: thwarted by EPAs and interim agreements on services and investment

Publication

M. Vander Stichele

1 October 2007

During negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), European Commission (EC) negotiators, representing the 27 member states of the European Union (EU), have frequently asserted that EPA provisions on investment and services will support regional integration in the six African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) regions. When the EU proposed at the end of October 2007 that it would sign interim framework agreements with some ACP regions on goods only, it nevertheless insisted on including ‘binding commitments to continue negotiations in outstanding areas’ such as services and investment in 2008. This paper questions whether the proposed EPA provisions on services and investment do actually support the ACPs’ own regional integration processes, aspirations, and choices.