GPPi researcher says recent EU-West Africa trade agreement is no success story yet

The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development published an article by GPPi Research Associate Clara Weinhardt in the April volume of Bridges Africa Review. In that article, Weinhardt examines the implications of the recent signing of the EU-West Africa Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), arguing that the agreement between the chief negotiators is no reason to celebrate.

The aim of the negotiations was to create a free trade area between the EU and the African region. Yet, the deal does not resolve the disparities between both sides’ different visions of trade policy as a tool for development. This means it is unlikely that the EPA will be put into practice any time soon. Worse, even after more than 10 years of negotiations, the agreement may have come too early. The regional approach to trade policymaking of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is still not clearly mapped out. It is therefore possible that negotiated commitments will not match the region’s future trade policy priorities.

To understand why the EPA was signed nonetheless, Weinhardt argues it is crucial to take regional dynamics into account. The fact that a regional agreement was signed in January was due to a late attempt to safeguard regional unity. It did not imply, however, that the entire region was ready to engage in substantial trade negotiations with the European side.

Weinhardt recommends that the dynamic created by the EPA negotiations could be used to initiate a serious discussion about the trade policy priorities that the West African region wants to pursue. This should also lead to a reconsideration of the region’s institutional set-up in international trade negotiations. The EU should be much more modest and cautious when proclaiming to act in the name of development. Helping ECOWAS to increase its scarce financial resources could be of greater value than the attempt to impose the European vision of trade policy on the region.

Learn more about GPPi’s research on Innovation in Development.