DECISION ON THE NEGOTIATIONS FOR ACP-EU ECONOMIC
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs)
DOC. EX.CL/117 (V)
The Executive Council:
TAKES NOTE of the Report;
CALLS UPON all African countries and regions, to maintain their unity in the EPA negotiations with the EU so as not to undermine the process of African integration;
REQUESTS the African Union Commission to speedily conclude, before substantive negotiations begin, the establishment of the coordination mechanism made up of AU Commission and the RECs that will enable African regions to exchange experiences and have common positions on key issues in the EPA negotiations with the EU;
RECOMMENDS that African countries that have experience of negotiating with the EU share such experience with the regions engaged in EPA negotiations with the EU;
CALLS UPON all African countries to maintain coherence and consistency in and between EPA and WTO negotiations;
REQUESTS that the EU offer in the WTO negotiations in favour of weak and vulnerable economies should be taken into account in the EPA negotiations;
EXHORTS all African countries, Members of the ACP Group, to mobilize their own internal resources for capacity building and pursuit of EPA negotiations with the EU. To that end, the support of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) should be sought;
CALLS UPON the AU Commission to urgently finalize the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the RECs/negotiating Groups on the continental Coordination and Monitoring Mechanism;
WELCOMES the progress made by the AU Commission and the European Union Commission in the establishment of their Joint Monitoring Mechanism for Negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) to be established between the AUC and the EC; and to that end, REQUESTS them to speed up the finalization of the relevant terms of reference so as to operationalize the said mechanism before the end of this year.