European Union should not pressure developing countries to hastily sign trade agreements against their interests, WCC says
If ACP countries (picture: wood processing in Vanuatu, © Peter Williams / WCC) hastily open their markets to competition with European companies, they could lose revenue that is much needed for poverty eradication, the WCC letter warns.
Concern about undue pressure exerted by the European Union on African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to sign interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of the year has been expressed by World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a 6 December letter to EU commissioner for external trade Peter Mandelson. The interim agreements open up local markets to competition with European companies without adequate legal frameworks and infrastructure in place, and they address issues which are still contentious within a deadline that prevents parliamentary discussion. Therefore these agreements represent an imminent danger of revenue loss for those countries, hindering their poverty eradication efforts, the letter affirms.
See the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance campaign to support churches opposing interim trade agreements