Economic Partnership Agreements

Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are a scheme to create a free trade area (FTA) between the European Union and other countries. They are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with WTO rules. The EPAs date back to the signing of the Cotonou Agreement. The EPAs with the different regions are at different states of play. The EU has signed EPAs with the following countries: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), ECOWAS (16 states), six countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, Cameroon, four Pacific states, and the CARIFORUM states.^[1] Their defining characteristic is that they open up exports to the EU immediately, while exports to the partner regions is opened up only partially and over transitioning periods.^[2]

Following the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the United Kingdom duplicated eight EPAs, such as with Cameroon, Ghana, the Caribbean, and the pacific states.^[3]

There is also an EU-Japan EPA, which is however symmetrical in opening markets, and thus only an EPA in name. Similarly the UK–Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is only an EPA in name for the same reason.