The November 2011 edition of AEFJN's Forum for Action is now online. It contains articles on the ethical responsibility of the Church on the climate issue, on the clean up of the Ogoniland oil spills, which will take decades, on the spread of Libyan arms in the Sahel, on the production of medicines in Africa and on the EU's attempt to force African countries to sign EPAs.
The national election campaign officially started the 28th October in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), exactly one month ahead of historic presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for November 28 2011. 41 humanitarian and human rights organizations, among them AEFJN, have expressed concern about the high political tension and deteriorating security situation. They have called upon all Congolese and international actors involved to take urgent measures to prevent electoral violence, better protect civilians and ensure credible, free and fair elections.ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs)
General Information
* They aim to create a free trade area (FTA) between the European Commission of the EU and the ACP countries.
* They are a response to criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with WTO rules.
* The agreements require the removal of import and export duties.
* If this happens ACP countries will be swamped by EU goods while not having enough goods themselves to tempt the EU market. This is partly because, as yet, their natural resources are mostly exported in the raw state. They will generate more income when they have the capacity to process them before they leave the country.
* Most developing countries rely heavily on revenue from trade taxes for providing basic services.
* Revenue loss leads to public expenditure cuts, e.g. in health and education, and so perpetuates the poverty cycle and dependence on aid.
* Negotiations cover trade in services as well as trade in goods, a further threat to health and education.
EPA negotiations between the EU and African countries/regions
* African governments that have the well-being of their people at heart are seeing the dangers of trade liberalisation and asking for more time before opening their markets completely.
* Civil society in Africa is becoming more vociferous in insisting that their governments do not sign agreements that will keep them in poverty.
* The EU was applying pressure for these agreements to be signed by the end of 2007 and the African countries’ refusal to sign has been a cause of great frustration in Brussels.
* Because of this, the EU Commission resorted to divide and rule tactics by offering individual agreements to individual countries – although one of the aims of EPAs is to enhance regional cooperation among countries in Africa.
* For an update on EPA negotiations in the African economic regions, see: http://www.aefjn.org/index.php/351.html