Francis A. S. T. Matambalya - Böcker

Trade liberalisation and openness, as linchpins for development have been flagships of conventional economic policy advices to most African countries over the last few decades. Much of the orientation of the focus however has been on the impact of international trade on development rather than the requirements that development should inform the shaping of the international trading system so that African countries may be able to benefit from such trade. This view has permeated both academic debate and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Negotiation between the European Commission and groups of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States.This timely volume advances an alternative set of inter-related, interdisciplinary perspectives and debates which contribute to overlapping genres and discourses, notably how rules of origins may stifle the development dimension of EPAs, how special agricultural safeguards may be used in balancing the effects of trade liberalisation on small farm holders in Africa. It also discusses the centrality of aid for trade in trade negotiations, and mainstreaming development in the EPAs debate to enhance domestic supply side in Africa and the various regional integration processes in the region.This book focuses on areas of trade that may inform the development dimension of international trade. With this edited volume, a team of specialists provide a comprehensive survey of ACP –EU trade and Africa trade relation in the global context, placing it in its legal, economic and political contexts. The book innovative approach coupled with a stimulating and accessible writing style, allows the reader to engage fully with the content. It will be of most value to students, scholars and related policymakers of international, development and trade economics.

The core of this publication is a profound research conducted from 1993 to 1997, and extended to cover relevant developments in 1998 and 1999. Using the Southern African Development Community (SADC) economies to proxy for the Southern African members of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) group of States which are associated with the EU through the Lome Convention (LC), the study comprehensively explicates the EU-ACP co-operation in a scientific but uncomplicated manner. It presents carefully argued cases, trying as much as possible to augment the qualitative arguments with empirical evidence. To discern the rationale and impact of EU-SADC relations within the framework of the LC, besides making a bearing on the historical aspects of these relations, the study also infers to the propelling forces of international trade and international economic linkages generally, as well as the posited associations between export performance and economic growth. In addition, it compares and contrasts the merits of the LC with factors that undermine the operational efficiency of the arrangement.Also, it proposes a range of plausible measures that should be implemented in order to enhance the efficiency of co-operation between the EU and the SADC within the framework of a revamped EU-ACP co-operation arrangement. In addition, this second revised edition is extended to cover latest developments related to the debate on post-Lome IV EU-ACP relations. Hence, it outlines also the ACP and EU negotiating mandates, and explores the key aspects of the EU-commissioned regional economic partnership agreement (REPA) studies.