by Carmel Haynes

THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) has been accused of trying to introduce structural adjustment in developing African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations by way of economic partnership agreements (EPA).

This charge was made by Marc Maes of the Belgium-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) 11 11 11 during a meeting between ACP journalists and NGOs at The Centre think tank in Brussels recently.

Maes told journalists, including the BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY, that this was the reason the EU was unwilling to consider other alternatives to the EPA.

Emily Jones, author of the Oxfam report Signing Away The Future, said the EU had to be "more creative" in finding alternatives based on the general system of preferences (GSP) scheme, noting that they had a GSP-plus agreement with Latin American countries that could be extended to the ACP.

Maes agreed that GSP-plus schemes offered the best alternative to the EPAs, especially since they were non-reciprocal trade agreements that would provide ACP countries with better access to the EU's markets without the disadvantage of having to open their markets to EU goods.

This, Maes added, would address the "variable geometry" sticking point between the EU and the Caribbean, since the issue of longer transition periods for less developed CARICOM countries would no longer need to be on the table.