The Africa Policy of Normative Power EU Considering Cotonou Agreement and Promotion of EPAs

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa grade: 10 University of Cologne (Forschungsinstitut für Politische Wissenschaft und Europäische Fragen) course: Multilateralism and the EU language: English abstract: Economic relations between the EU and ACP countries have a long tradition. After Yaoundéconventions in the 1960s 1975 the first Lomé Agreement was established between ACPcountries and EC member states. Between 1975 and 2000 EU and ACP countries ran foursubsequent Lomé conventions replaced by Cotonou agreement now. Lomé was concerned tobe an agreement providing ACP countries better access to European markets in order to pusheconomic development and build up domestic production. The emergence of WTO in 1995changed the regulatory framework for regional trade agreements in such a way that Lomé IVcould not pass into a fifth version. In order to be compliant with WTO measures a newagreement was worked out 2000 in Cotonou. It came into power in 2002.The complete establishment of that treaty it is still far from becoming reality as aconsiderable number of ACP countries have still not negotiated EPAs. A crucial issue in thesenegotiations is the division of ACP countries in six groups for regional EPAs. This divisiondoes not merge with other regional trade and political networks in Sub-Saharan Africa anddoes not include all ACP countries.With 'good governance' having emerged as a 'vital' issue in international politics andespecially in EU's agenda a relevant number of non-economic issues found their way intoCotonou agreement. By linking trade agreements and development aid with the spread ofEuropean or Western democracy 'standards' those different fields were brought into contact.The major question of the following research shall be whether EU trade policy towards ACPcountries is supposed to be an instrument serving the diffusion of human rights and democracyor rather a 'smoke screen' for a hidden economic a