We must start mobilising now for the international ‘Stop EPAs’ day' on September 27. Our Region is confronting the real possibility of very damaging agreements being forced on us by the end of this year unless we can mobilise to stop that happening.

EPAs negotiations are taking place between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. At last week’s meeting in Windhoek, organised by the EU for the SADC group, it was clear that the EU is pushing for a free trade agreement that will have very damaging consequences for us in the region.

To say pushing is an understatement. The EU has not been shy to threaten us with penalties for failing to comply with WTO rules if we don’t fall into line. They are also threatening us with loss of access to their markets.

These bullying tactics show that EPAs are not partnerships at all. They simply confirm that the EU will stop at nothing to get access to the ACP markets. That’s why we are saying Stop EPAs. Our demand is for trade justice. We don’t need trade liberalisation. We need trade arrangements that will really lead to the development of our economies.

This was why we had our international day of action on April 19 . Furthermore we organised a Churches and EPAs Conference in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania from 24 – 26 April 2007 to discuss our response on the current negotiations. (See Statement) We also took 10 people to the African Trade Network meeting in Ghana last week to organise a focus on EPAs at the AU Summit. That meeting issued a clear call to ‘Act now to stop the EPAs’.

This is also the reason for the international ‘Stop EPAs’ day on September 27. So we are calling on all EJN members to mobilise for this day. Send in your plans for action so that we can build the response of our network.

More next month

Malcolm Damon