BRUSSELS, CMC – The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the European Union and the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries will be among matters discussed at the three-day ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) that began here on Monday.
Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) countries have signed the ACP accord with Europe in 2008, but at the ACP-EU Joint Council of Ministers meeting here earlier this month, the developing countries said they “deeply regretted the European Parliament decision, on EU Commission’s request, to have ACP States removed from favourable EC market access if they have not signed and ratified their EPA by October 1, 2014”.
The statement quoted Botswana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Phandu Skelemani, the co-president of the ACP-EU Council of Minsters that CARIFORUM countries had outlined concerns about the EU policy of differentiation which might result in reduction of funds for countries with better achievement and thereby affect their capacity of implementation of the EPA.