mr president the commission welcomes the report by mr schroeder which represents a balanced overview of the diversity of opinions surrounding the development impact of the economic partnership agreements epas
the dossier continues to evolve
we have signed a full economic partnership agreement with the caribbean region whilst we have negotiated interim agreements with countries and regions in africa and the pacific
these interim epas provide for a trade regime compatible with wto rules and preserve important trade preferences for these countries
the interim agreements are only transitory in nature as they will be replaced by full regional epas
the pace of these negotiations will be set by the regions concerned to ensure those objectives and coverage match their own integration processes capacity needs and political priorities
in parallel the programming of the tenth european development fund has moved on
most of the regional and national programmes are signed
in anticipation of the epas these programmes include considerable support to help our african caribbean and pacific acp partners make the most of the agreements direct support for the implementation of the agreements and indirect support to build up infrastructure and productive capacity
the commission recognises the essential role of development finance
at the same time we welcome the fact that the report acknowledges that the development objectives and outcomes of the agreements are a much wider issue than just financial support
we also recognise the essential role of reform in the acp regions in reaching the development objectives as set out in paragraph fourteen of the report
this includes fiscal reform and changes to revenue systems
the reforms offset shifts in the tax base due to liberalisation and are in themselves valuable steps to ensuring sustainable public financing in the acp
another essential objective is to support regional economic integration in the acp
the interim agreements do not yet include all acp countries
this is exactly why these agreements are only temporary pending full agreement
the full agreements will be flexible and comprehensive
building up supply-side capacity to trade and engage in goods and service sectors underpins the economic value of a trade agreement
the commission's view is that protectionism is never a valid policy option
however we do acknowledge that protection the legitimate use of measures to protect sensitive sectors and emerging industry is a valid and essential policy tool
this is why the epas contain all sorts of flexibilities and in particular exclusions and asymmetrical commitments for the acp side as called for in the report
on the eu side our markets are completely open for acp products with increased cooperation to meet technical and health standards and facilitate trade
acp countries will only open their markets gradually with the possibility to maintain exceptions
the commission does not see our commitment to the epa process ending on signature
this is the start of a process of enhanced dialogue careful implementation monitoring and evaluation of the effect especially as regards the development impact
all of this will use the institutions established to implement the agreement to ensure transparency and the participation of parliamentarians and civil society
the commission therefore welcomes the report by mr schröder and will provide a detailed reaction to the points raised in due course
