SEATINI was requested by COMESA to be part of the Regional Negotiating Forum ( NRF), in the Eastern and Southern African (ESA)/EPA negotiations . It is the only civil society organizations directly involved in these negotiations. This is good for CSOs as we will be able to inform you , first hand , what is going on.

COMESA has so far organized 2 meetings; the Orientation meeting in Brussels 8th –12^th March 2004; and the Working Group meeting in Lusaka 23-26^th March 2004. I will give the issues arising from these meetings, which need further reflection and follow-up:

It should be remembered that the one of objectives of the EPAs are is to support regional integration.; and one of the principles is that EPAs must be instruments for development and must support regional integration initiatives existing within the ACP and not undermine them.

On 7^th February 2003 the ESA countries comprising of Burundi, Comoros, DR Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia , Kenya , Madagascar , Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda , Seychelles , Sudan , Uganda , Zambia and Zimbabwe agreed to launch the 2^nd phase of the EPA negotiations with the EU. (Central Africa and West Africa launched negotiations on the 4^th and 6^th December 2003 respectively) . It should be noted that so far there is nothing to show for the 1^st phase. There is minimal collaboration between these negotiating regions and the role of the African Union would have playing a unifying role is not clarified. This is the beginning of the disintegration of Africa.

Tanzania is not in the ESA group but in SADC yet the East African regional integration efforts have progressed with a Customs Union Protocol being signed last month. So what is going to happen to the East African Community? SEATINI and FES had a meeting in Mombasa of some Members of Parliament from the three EA countries and from the East African Legislative Assembly. They protested against this deliberate effort to disintegrate Africa and EA. Their Resolution is attached.

The ESA is a loose open-ended negotiating forum, which includes member countries from three regional bodies i.e SADC, EAC, IOC (Indian Ocean Commission). At the end of the negotiations EU will sign an EPA with a customs Union, so which customs union is EU going to sign with when these regional bodies are playing a very minimal role in these negotiations, though they sit on the Regional Negotiating Forum. The East African Legislative Assembly is not factored in at all in the negotiations. Therefore there is no clarity as to the outcome of these negotiations.

The ESA agreed to have 3 phases.

Out put of RNF :

• compiled progress reports on the activities of the NDTPFs
• Phase I RNF Work Programme and budget
• RPTF terms of reference
• Negotiating briefs on topics defined in the RNF Work Programme
• A framework for the negotiations with the EC and a tentative list of priorities for the negotiations and a preliminary phasing.

• an outline EPA will have been agreed on.

• Substantive negotiations will continue if necessary.
• Areas of disagreement revisited and compromise reached
• EPA agreement finalised and ratified
• Enact necessary legislation
• January 2008 EPAs come into force.

My concern is on the timing; the time is too short for ESA countries to be able to negotiate meaningfully. There is an appalling lack of information and awareness about what the EPA negotiations are all about ; not only among the CSOs but also among our negotiators themselves. Most countries do not have as yet the National Development and Trade policy Forum which is responsible for formulating the national negotiating position. In some countries where the Forum is in place, the influence of the EU is overwhelming, for example in Kenya. In fact the role of the EU in the whole negotiations does not leave any room for independent negotiations. The Impact Assessment Studies at national level are carried out by EU funds and EU consultant; COMESA which is the secretariat of the negotiations is funded by EU…

1. The National Development and Trade Policy Forum (NDTPF):

Cross-sectoral representation of both the public sector and NSAs. It is responsible for formulating a national position in each country that is then presented to the RNF.

2. The Regional Negotiating Forum:

The chairperson is the most senior delegate of the NDTPF of the country holding the chair of COMESA at the time of the meeting.

TOR of the RNF:

• to prepare negotiating briefs to be used in the negotiations.

3. ESA- EU Regional Preparatory Task Force:

It is not a decision making body but one which supports the negotiations through the official negotiating structures.

Its main objective is to exchange information on issues pertaining to the negotiations so that areas of divergence and convergence are known to both sides so that negotiations at the Ambassadorial/ senior officials and ministerial/ Commissioner level can concentrate on those areas where there is divergence. The task force is also charged with exchanging views on a number of issues i.e opportunities for debt cancellation, Rules of Origin , how to improve SDT , preserve/improve market access into EU….

Composition: Representative of DG Trade and a representative from the Embassy accredited to Belgium of the country which holds the COMESA chair, These will co-chair the Task Force. Other members will depend on the topic to be discussed but will be either from other directorates of the EC or from the RNF or specialists invited by the 2 chairpersons. Membership will be not be more than 10 people. COMESA will act as the secretariat.

4. At the ambassadorial and ministerial levels , there are lead spokespersons as indicated in the tables above.

Challenges facing ESA countries in these negotiations :

Below are some of the challenges facing ESA as well as all the other negotiating regions:

• Regional integration : can the EPAs lead to further integration or fragmentation? The role of the regional organizations like EAC, Indian Ocean Commission, African Union is not clear . Africa is now fragmented with West Africa (ECOWAS), Central Africa (UEMA), Southern and Eastern Africa ( COMESA and SADC) competing over whatever they can get out of EU.
• The effects on the economy and on various sectors is not clear despite the fact that a number of impact assessment studies have been carried out. These studies are also heavily influenced by the EU.
• The role of the EU in these negotiations is overwhelming. In addition to the historical relationship between the ACP and EU countries and the 25 years of the Lome convention , EU is still playing the big brother role. Thus the independence of ESA countries in these negotiations is questionable.
• Limited negotiating capacity: As a result of the lack of a clear understanding of what the negotiations are all about ( even the outcomes ), not only among civil society organisations but even among key government officials.
• Involvement of other stakeholders especially the members of parliament. Even in the ESA negotiating structure, they are not there.

Given the above, there is an urgent need to strategise as to the way forward to slow down this juggernaut or else we, our economies, our livelihoods will be crushed.

Copyright ©RegionsWatch 2004

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