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The EC-Cariform Economic Partnership Agreement: Assessing the Outcome on Services and Investment
ECIPE Paper, January, 2009
By Pierre Sauvé and Natasha Ward.
Following the expiration in 2007 of a WTO waiver, the EC-CARIFORM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) drew a line under thirty years of preferential access to European markets enjoyed by Caribbean producers. In this new paper, the authors delve into the services and investment dimensions of the agreement – the extent to which they advance liberalisation, the implications for development in the region and the policy lessons for other ACP regions, particularly in Africa. They argue that the CARIFORUM EPA has set the bar high not just for all subsequent EPA negotiations, but represents a precedent-setting evolution in preferential trade agreements. This in-depth study demonstrates how a well-negotiated agreement between highly unequal partners can nonetheless generate outcomes that offer tangible benefits to the weaker side. It brings a welcome positive outlook on the much-maligned EPA process.