By Bradford Theonomi From Solomon Star News

African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States are hopeful and confident of a good outcome when meeting with the European Union Commissioner this week after decades of negotiations.

A pre-meeting prior to this Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) dialogue convened in Honiara yesterday to strengthen member states ties to which reaffirmation of re-grouping was emphasized.

“I speak to you with a sense of optimism, as you know negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU have been going on for almost ten years now – far too long,” Solomon Islands supervising Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade,  Moses Garu told ACP officials and ministers.

“In the days ahead, ministers have a great opportunity to break that last remaining deadlocks and help bring about the conclusion of the EPA next year.

“Leaders gave a mandate for the EPA negotiations to conclude by the end of 2013 and it is our duty to try and fulfil our leaders’ mandate to the best of our abilities.”

Garu said for negotiations to be concluded, there must be compromise on both sides, so we must also ensure that in the quest to implement our leaders’ mandate, we do not compromise our future development policy space.

The development dimension is the compass that should guide us as we navigate the difficult waters of our EPA negotiations, he said.

“As seen in Papua New Guinea, the EPA with EU has the potential to bring about economic growth, development and prosperity to our people.

“We must act with haste and a sense of urgency to bring a conclusion to these negotiations and bring the benefits to our people before trade preferences are fully eroded.”

He added whilst we acknowledge the benefits that were provided by EU in the interim EPA, in particular global sourcing for cooked loins and canned fish, we also note that the interim EPA has contentious issues that could potentially undermine our future development policy space.

“We must try to negotiate a development friendly EPA that addresses all collective challenges and ensure that agreement has benefits for all the Pacific States.

“We must be realistic and practical in our negotiations. Negotiations cannot go on forever and the more we delay the negotiations, the more pressure we get from our industries to consider other alternatives.”

Garu said addressing the recent suspension negotiations, PACPS should keep on pushing for variable geometry.

“This is the concept that countries can sign on to the comprehensive EPA at their own pace allowing some countries to make deeper commitments in the comprehensive EPA at a faster pace, and for others to remain in the interim EPA at a later date when they are ready.

“We are a diverse and disparate region, with many different economies and cultures spread over vast distances.

“It is essential in these circumstances to have variable geometry as part of the EPA as this allows negotiations to continue and give countries the flexibility they need,” he said.

Garu reemphasized that the EPA should have the heart of development and not be a traditional free trade agreement.

The need for practical measures on the ground including infrastructure, strengthening competent authorities, unregulated and unreported fishing.

It’s also important to focus on the challenges we face and the uniqueness of our region, he said.

“Our region faces exceptional challenges, climate change, and isolation from markets, poor infrastructure, smallness and diseconomies of scale.

“The EPA needs to reflect this uniqueness and have development dimension throughout the text.”

He added other important principle is that the comprehensive EPA must be built on the benefits already secured in the interim EPA and foster regional integration as highlighted in the Pacific Plan.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.solomonstarnews.com/news/national/20481-hopes-high-in-acp-eu-meet