The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its resolutions of 25 September 2003 on the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in Cancún(1), of 12 May 2005 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO General Council Decision of 1 August 2004(2), of 1 December 2005 on the preparations for the sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in Hong Kong(3), of 23 March 2006 on the development impact of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)(4), of 4 April 2006 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong(5), of 1 June 2006 on trade and poverty: designing trade policies to maximise trade's contribution to poverty relief(6), of 7 September 2006 on the suspension of negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA)(7), of 23 May 2007 on Economic Partnership Agreements(8), of 12 July 2007 on the TRIPS Agreement and access to medicines(9), of 12 December 2007 on Economic Partnership Agreements(10) and its position of 5 June 2008 on the proposal for a Council regulation applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and amending Regulations (EC) No 552/97, (EC) No 1933/2006 and Commission Regulations (EC) No 964/2007 and (EC) No 1100/2006(11),

–   having regard to the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, on one part, and the East African Community Partner States, on the other part,

–   having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (the Cotonou Agreement),

–   having regard to the conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of April 2006, October 2006, May 2007, October 2007, November 2007 and May 2008,

–   having regard to the Commission Communication of 23 October 2007 on Economic Partnership Agreements (COM(2007)0635),

–   having regard to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in particular Article XXIV thereof,

–   having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of the Fourth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference, adopted on 14 November 2001 in Doha,

–   having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of the Sixth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference, adopted on 18 December 2005 in Hong Kong,

–   having regard to the report and recommendations of the Task Force on Aid for Trade, adopted by the WTO General Council on 10 October 2006,

–   having regard to the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, which sets out the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as criteria collectively established by the international community for the elimination of poverty,

–   having regard to the Gleneagles Communiqué, adopted by the G-8 on 8 July 2005,

–   having regard to Rule 108(5) in conjunction with Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas EPAs should be WTO-compatible agreements aimed at supporting regional integration and promoting the gradual integration of the ACP economies into the world economy, thereby fostering their sustainable social and economic development and contributing to the overall effort to eradicate poverty in the ACP countries,

B.   whereas WTO rules do not require EPA countries to undertake liberalisation commitments in the area of services,

C.   whereas EPAs should be used to build a long-term relationship where trade supports development,

D.   whereas the current financial and economic crisis means that fair trade policy relations will be more important than ever to the developing world,

E.   whereas the Interim EPA (IEPA) is focused on trade in goods and WTO compatibility,

F.   whereas the IEPA will have a fundamental impact on the future evolution of the economic, social and environmental development and policies of the East African Community (EAC) Partner States and their trading partners in eastern and southern Africa,

G.   whereas the EAC Partner States established a customs union in 2005 and are working towards the establishment of a common market by 2010, a monetary union by and a political federation of the East African States,

H.   whereas the IEPA can probably influence the scope and content of future agreements made between the EAC States and other trading partners and the region's stance in the negotiations,

I.   whereas there is limited competition between the European Union and the ACP countries since the vast majority of EU exports consist of goods ACP countries do not produce but often need either for direct consumption or as inputs for domestic industry; whereas this is not the case with regard to trade in agricultural goods, where EU export subsidies represent a serious obstacle for ACP producers in the agricultural, livestock and dairy sectors, disrupting and often destroying both local and regional markets, and the EU should therefore phase out all kinds of export subsidies without delay,

J.   whereas the EAC Partner States have indicated that they wish to renegotiate a number of issues included in the IEPA,

K.   whereas none of the liberalisation schedules requires a country to start removing any positive tariffs until 2015; whereas the EAC Partner States have 24 years to complete the IEPA liberalisation process,

L.   whereas trade commitments must be accompanied by an increase in support for trade-related assistance,

M.   whereas the objective of the EU Strategy on Aid for Trade is to support developing countries' capacity to take advantage of new trade opportunities, and to compensate for adjustment costs and potentially negative impacts of trade liberalisation,

N.   whereas nothing in a potential full EPA should impair the capacity of the EAC Partner States to promote access to medicines,

1.  Believes that the IEPA must contribute to revitalising trade between ACP countries and the European Union, increased economic growth, regional integration, economic diversification and the reduction of poverty and the achievement of the MDGs; therefore urges flexible implementation that fully takes account of the capacity constraints of EAC Partner States;

2.  Stresses that such agreements cannot be regarded as satisfactory unless they achieve three objectives: offering the ACP countries support for sustainable development, promoting their participation in world trade, and strengthening the regionalisation process; stresses that in achieving protection from negative consequences from opening the EAC Partner States' economies, support from the European Union must be provided in order to bring real benefits though trade preferences, and building economic and social development;

3.  Reaffirms its view that, if appropriately designed, EPAs represent an opportunity to revitalise ACP-EU trading relations, promote ACP economic diversification and regional integration and reduce poverty in the ACP countries;

4.  Encourages the negotiating parties to finish the negotiations as planned during 2009; encourages the parties to take every measure to be able to finalise a comprehensive EPA between the ACP countries and the European Union before the end of 2009 as planned;

5.  Recognises the benefits that the signing of the IEPA has had for exporters by expanding the possibilities for exports to the European Union after the expiration on 31 December 2007 of the preferential tariff treatment provided for under the Cotonou Agreement, and therefore avoiding the damage which could have been caused to ACP exporters had they been obliged to operate under less favourable trade systems;

6.  Welcomes the fact that the European Union is offering ACP countries full duty-free and quota-free market access into the European Union for the majority of products;

7.  Stresses that the IEPA is an agreement on trade in goods aimed at preserving and substantially expanding the export opportunities to the European Union for the EAC Partner States, both through full market access and improved rules of origin;

8.  Emphasises that the signing of the IEPA is a necessary step towards sustainable growth in this region as a whole, and underlines the importance of continuing negotiations towards a comprehensive agreement encouraging increased trade, investment and regional integration;

9.  Recalls that EPAs should be compatible with the WTO rules, which do not require or forbid liberalisation commitments or regulatory obligations regarding services, intellectual property rights protection and the so-called 'Singapore issues';

10.  Calls for a regulatory framework to be put in place during the transition from an interim to a full EPA with regard to services; calls for steps to ensure, where possible, that universal service provisions are in place, including for essential public services; reaffirms in this context the views set out in its resolution of 4 September 2008 on trade in services(12);

11.  Recalls that a genuine regional market is an essential basis for successfully implementing the IEPA and that regional integration and cooperation are essential for the social and economic development of the EAC Partner States;

12.  Requests that any agreements between the European Union and countries of the eastern and southern Africa region must not contradict each other or impede regional integration in this wider region;

13.  Acknowledges the establishment of transition periods within the IEPA for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in order for them to be able to adapt to the changes put in place by the agreement, and urges the authorities of the EAC Partner States to continue to support the interests of SMEs in their negotiations towards a comprehensive EPA;

14.  Calls for the European Union to provide increased and adequate assistance to the authorities in ACP countries and to the private sector in order to facilitate the transition of their economies following the signing of the IEPA;

15.  Therefore supports the agreed tariff line exclusions focused on agricultural goods and some processed agricultural goods given that they are based chiefly on the need to protect infant industries or sensitive products in these countries;

16.  Calls on the Commission to clarify the actual distribution of funds throughout the ACP region stemming from the pledged priority spending within the increased Aid for Trade budget;

17.  Urges the relevant countries to provide clear and transparent information about the economic and political situation and development in these countries in order to improve cooperation with the Commission;

18.  Recognises that a development cooperation chapter has been included in the comprehensive EPA covering cooperation on trade in goods, supply-side competitiveness, business-enhancing infrastructure, trade in services, trade-related issues, institutional capacity-building, and fiscal adjustments; calls on both parties to adhere to their agreed commitment to conclude negotiations on competition and government procurement only when adequate capacity has been built;

19.  Recalls that the EPA must be supportive of the development objectives, policies and priorities of the EAC Partner States, not only in its structure and content, but also in the manner and spirit of its implementation;

20.  Recalls the adoption, in October 2007, of the EU Strategy on Aid for Trade, with the commitment to increase the collective EU trade related assistance to EUR 2 billion (EUR 2 000 000 000) annually by 2010 (EUR 1 billion from the Community, EUR 1 billion from the Member States); insists that the EAC Partner States receive an appropriate and equitable share;

21.  Calls for an early determination and provision of the share of the Aid for Trade resources; stresses that these funds should be additional resources and not merely a repackaging of EDF funding, that they should conform to EAC priorities and that their disbursement should be timely, predictable and in line with the execution schedules of national and regional strategic development plans; opposes any kind of conditionality linked to the EPAs in the matter of granting European aid and calls on the Commission to guarantee that access to the funds of the 10th EDF is kept separate from the results and pace of the negotiations;

22.  Calls on the Commission to clarify how funds are distributed throughout the region, calls on the Member States to outline additional funding beyond the 2008-2013 budget commitments;

23.  Calls on the Commission, in view of the commitments made by the Council in September 2007 on the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement and access to medicines, not to negotiate pharmaceutical-related TRIPS+ provisions affecting public health and access to medicines in the full EPA, to refrain from requesting adherence to or acceptance of the obligations of the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Patent Law Treaty, to refrain from incorporating the terms of Directive 2004/48/EC on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, and not to introduce disciplines such as non-original database protection in the full EPA;

24.  Urges the negotiators of any full EPA to account fully for the transparent management of natural resources and to outline the best practices necessary in order that the ACP countries make the maximum gains from such resources;

25.  Stresses that any comprehensive EPA must also include provisions regarding good governance, transparency in political offices, and human rights;

26.  Highlights the importance of intra-regional trade and the need for increased regional trade links in order for sustainable growth to be ensured in the region; underlines the importance of cooperation and congruency between different regional entities;

27.  Encourages further lowering of tariffs between developing countries and regional groups, which today account for 15 to 25 % of the trade value, to further promote south - south trade, economic growth and regional integration;

28.  Calls on the Commission to do its utmost to restart the negotiations on the DDA and ensure that trade liberalisation agreements continue to promote development in poor countries;

29.  Is convinced that comprehensive EPAs should be complementary to an agreement on the DDA and not an alternative for ACP countries;

30.  Respects the need for a chapter on trade defence with bilateral safeguards; calls on both parties to avoid unnecessary use of these safeguards; calls on the Commission to accept, within the framework of the ongoing negotiations with a view to concluding a comprehensive EPA, a revision of the safeguards contained in the interim EPA in order to guarantee appropriate, transparent and quick utilisation, provided that the criteria for their application are met;

31.  Asks for a prompt ratification procedure in order to make the profits of the IEPA available for the partner countries without unnecessary delay;

32.  Recalls that, whilst the IEPA can be considered as a first step in the process, in legal terms it is a completely independent international agreement that may not necessarily lead to a full EPA;

33.  Stresses that the possible assent by Parliament to the IEPA does not predetermine Parliament's position concerning the assent to a potential full EPA, since the procedure of conclusion relates to two different international agreements;

34.  Recalls that the EAC is the only region in which all members have joined the IEPA and offered identical liberalisation schedules; points out that these need to be assessed regularly and revised if they prove too burdensome to implement;

35.  Points out that the IEPA will probably influence relations between the region and its closest trading partners and it must be ensured that the current agreement's stipulations help to facilitate future trade agreements;

36.  Calls on the Commission to consider requests made by the East African Community to renegotiate for the full EPA certain contentious issues in the Interim EPA that it wishes to amend or withdraw;

37.  Urges the ACP countries to further the process of liberalisation and encourages the extension of such reforms beyond trade and goods and an increase in the liberalisation of trade and services;

38.  Points out that the EPA should contribute to the achievement of the MDGs;

39.  Notes that within the EPA negotiations some ACP countries, with the aim of ensuring that all exporters are treated as well as the most favoured trading partner, have sought the MFN clause, which sets a normal, non-discriminatory tariff on imports of goods;

40.  Welcomes the fact that new, improved and more flexible rules of origin have been negotiated between the European Union and the ACP countries, and could potentially provide the ACP countries with considerable benefits if implemented appropriately and with due consideration to their reduced capacity levels;

41.  Stresses that exports of mining and wood products should not disturb the fragility of an ecosystem that plays a key role for the African continent, and that the EPA should provide for mechanisms to reward environmental services provided by the EAC Partner States;

42.  Considers it important that in the implementation of EPAs, an appropriate monitoring system should be established, coordinated by the relevant parliamentary committee involving members of the Committee on International Trade and of the Committee on Development, ensuring an adequate balance between the maintenance of the leading role of the Committee on International Trade and an overall consistency on trade and development policies; this parliamentary committee should operate in a flexible manner and actively coordinate with the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly; considers that this monitoring should start after the adoption of each IEPA;

43.  Stresses in particular the crucial role of ACP parliaments and non-state actors in the monitoring and management of EPAs and asks the Commission to guarantee their involvement in the ongoing negotiation procedures; this requires a clear agenda between the EU and ACP countries based on a participatory approach;

44.  Calls for appropriate and transparent monitoring mechanisms – with a clear role and influence – to follow the impact of EPAs with increased ACP ownership and broad stakeholder consultation;

45.  Welcomes the inclusion of a review clause within the IEPA, which affirms that a comprehensive review of the agreement shall be undertaken no later than five years after the date of signature, and at subsequent five-yearly intervals, including an analysis of the costs and consequences of implementation of trade commitments; if necessary, amendments to the provisions of the agreement and adjustments to their application must be undertaken with respect to and in accordance with the rules and procedures of the WTO;

46.  Calls on the Council to consult the Parliament before taking a decision on the provisional application of international agreements – as is the case for the EPAs – when the assent procedure is required, in view of the possibility that Parliament might subsequently reject the international agreement, with the consequence that its provisional application would have to be ended;

47.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the ACP countries, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.

(1) OJ C 77 E, 26.3.2004, p. 393. (2) OJ C 92 E, 20.4.2006, p. 397. (3) OJ C 285 E, 22.11.2006, p.126. (4) OJ C 292 E, 1.12.2006, p. 121. (5) OJ C 293 E, 2.12.2006, p. 155. (6) OJ C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 261. (7) OJ C 305 E, 14.12.2006, p. 244. (8) OJ C 102 E, 24.4.2008, p. 301. (9) OJ C 175 E, 10.7.2008, p. 591. (10) OJ C 323 E, 18.12.2008, p. 361. (11) Text adopted, P6_TA(2008)0252. (12) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2008)0407.