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2017 : A Continental Free Trade Area in Africa?

CSDP blog - Sun, 01/01/2017 - 13:25

Under the aegis of the African Union, the 54 states will set up a "Schengen-like" borderless area in 2017 to boost trade. Negotiations for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in Africa were formally launched in June 2015 at the African Union Summit in Johannesburg. A year later, a boost seems to be given to the project, although the project exists since the signing in 1991 of the Treaty of Abuja.

Why now ? In a context of global economic crisis, African states are somewhere forced to accelerate the pace. In 2015 the Tripartite Initiative involving COMESA, EAC and SADC was launched, with a view to the preparation of a large free trade area from Cairo to Cape Town. The Tripartite Initiative, the largest free trade agreement involving 26 countries from three regional economic communities (RECs), Comesa, CEA and SADC, with a total of 530 million inhabitants for a gross domestic product Total of $ 630 billion, more than half of Africa's economic output. This initiative has rekindled the interest of African leaders in broadening the continental free trade area.

Intra-African trade must be saved because it accounts for only 10% of trade on the continent, while in the EU, Asia and North America, intra-regional trade represents respectively 70 %, 52% and 50% of trade. Moreover, the share of Africa in world trade is even more derisory since it represents only about 2%. Implementing such an Africa-wide FTA could boost intra-African trade to the tune of US $ 35 billion annually by 2022. A review of the genesis and functioning of this area of free movement of more than one billion people.

The CFTA is a priority initiative of the AU Agenda 2063. The objective of the CFTA is to create a single continental market for goods and services, to establish the free movement of business people. It also aims to pave the way for the acceleration of the establishment of the customs union in 2022 and an African economic community by 2028. This gradual approach is justified by the fact that integration should be consolidated at regional level, through the creation and the strengthening of regional economic communities (RECs). The RECs would ultimately merge into the African Economic Community. (There are 8 RECs : UMA, CEN-SAD, CEDEAO / ECOWAS, UEMOA, MRU, CEEAC, SADC, COMESA, IGAD.)

The current intra-African trade situation is disappointing. Despite the fact that the free movement of persons, the right of residence and the right of establishment are the founding principles enshrined in Chapter VI of the Abuja Treaty, a truck that delivers supermarkets in Southern Africa needs 1,600 documents, permits and licenses to legally cross borders.In the future, the continental free trade area could just as well require the removal of barriers such as the imposition of visa requirements that restrict the movement of people across national borders. Far from being settled, remains the issue of labor mobility among African countries, one of the most contentious issues for African leaders due to security or political instability problems.

Trade and industry are catalysts for African development for the African Union, once the establishment of the CFTA, the competitiveness of industrial products would be increased by exploiting the potential of economies in a wider continental market . The initiative would also help diversify and transform the African economy, improve resource allocation, reduce prices in countries and make Africa less vulnerable to external trade shocks. In addition, regional integration of the continent should integrate regional markets with efficient infrastructure to attract investment and improve access to better products and services.

Twenty million dollars were raised to finance the initial CFTA projects in the areas of goods and services, investment and intellectual property. Of the amount so far obtained from development partners, the AU Member States contributed $ 3 million for 2016 and $ 4.9 million for 2017.
CFTA can be a paradise for international and african criminality and smuggle, like the Schengen area? Planned for 18 July 2017, the release of an African electronic passport should enable nationals of the 54 African countries to travel visa-free across Africa. For now, the initiative only concerns heads of state, government and foreign ministers. In practice, African citizens would retain their national passports and would be issued an African e-passport by the AU. A first on the world scale. But the billion African citizens will have to wait until 2025 to benefit.

Tag: african continental free trade areaCFTASchengenTripartite InitiativeAbuja Treaty

End of the mission EUPOL Afghanistan

CSDP blog - Sat, 31/12/2016 - 00:00

After nearly a decade of support for civilian police in Afghanistan, the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL) officially closed its activities today, Saturday (31 December 2016) at midnight. In fact, the mission has already slowed down its activities for a few days already. A meeting marking the end of the mission was organized, Wednesday, December 14, a few days after the official end of the mission.

Source

Tag: EUPOL AfghanistanCSDP

Article - Goodbye 2016: a look back in photos

European Parliament (News) - Fri, 30/12/2016 - 10:00
General : As 2016 is drawing to an end, take a look back at the events that the marked the year in Parliament: from UK Prime Minister David Cameron meeting Parliament President Martin Schulz ahead of the Brexit referendum to MEPs paying tribute to the victims of the Nice tragedy in July. Relive this year's key events in our photo gallery and join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
Categories: European Union

Article - Goodbye 2016: a look back in photos

European Parliament - Fri, 30/12/2016 - 10:00
General : As 2016 is drawing to an end, take a look back at the events that the marked the year in Parliament: from UK Prime Minister David Cameron meeting Parliament President Martin Schulz ahead of the Brexit referendum to MEPs paying tribute to the victims of the Nice tragedy in July. Relive this year's key events in our photo gallery and join the conversation on our Facebook page.

Source : © European Union, 2017 - EP
Categories: European Union

Happy Holidays 2016

Ideas on Europe Blog - Sun, 25/12/2016 - 08:00

The post Happy Holidays 2016 appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Categories: European Union

EU Exit – The Role of the Left

Ideas on Europe Blog - Sat, 24/12/2016 - 07:00

The left finds itself in a difficult position.  Its role is needed more than ever in the post-WWII period.  However, its internal divisions limit its impact on developments.  This state of limbo must be overcome, if the left is to be able to push forward and work towards putting an end to the crisis in favour of society at large.

Do the two cases of EU exit, BREXIT and GREXIT, whether actual or speculative, constitute critical junctures in the evolution of the EU?  if so, with what implications?  What is the role of the left in these circumstances? In order to provide some answers to these questions, a look is needed into BREXIT and the implications for a potential GREXIT – the modalities involved and the issues raised.

According to Art. 50 TEU, the process for a Member State exiting the EU is initiated with the state submitting a notification to withdraw.  A maximum duration of two years is then allowed, during which the EU negotiates and concludes an agreement with the departing state, setting out the arrangements for the withdrawal and taking account of the framework for the future relationship between the two.  The final agreement is approved by the European Council, acting by a qualified majority.  It must also have the consent of the European Parliament and, under certain circumstances (if it cuts across policy areas that lie within the competence of Member States), be ratified by the national parliaments of the 27 member states.   The issues raised by the negotiated withdrawal of a member state are numerous and complex.

In the case of BREXIT, the result of the British referendum was followed by a government crisis and the emergence of a more anti-EU, conservative administration.  Furthermore, political debate shifted to the right and far right, influencing government actions. It is generally believed that EU leaders wish to complete the negotiation process before the European Parliament elections in the summer of 2019 and the appointment of a new European Commission.   As the economy comes under increased pressure due to the uncertainty created by BREXIT, the effects will be felt by society at large, adding to the general upheaval.

On the European side, the withdrawal of the UK will disrupt the Union’s internal equilibrium, as the economic and political weight of non-eurozone countries in EU will be reduced considerably.  For example, in 2015 the share of non-eurozone countries in EU GDP was equal to 29%, of which 17.5% derived from the UK and the remaining 11.5% from eight countries (Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Croatia).  This may well be expected to strengthen the political and economic supremacy of Germany. The Eurozone member states of Southern Europe will also be affected, as they come under intensified pressure by the financial markets.   In addition, populist insurgents of the right will be inspired by BREXIT and try to shape the political debate as their influence rises.

Overall, BREXIT opens the way to a long process of negotiation, the outcome of which is at best uncertain and at worst damaging, especially for Britain, as it will need to disentangle itself from 40 years of economic and regulatory integration with the EU.

What appears to be complex and uncertain in the case of BREXIT would in all probability be essentially chaotic in the case of GREXIT.  Assuming a euro-exit were legally possible under the EU treaties, the issues raised are many and considerably intricate.  Capital Economics, a London based think-tank, which in 2012 won the Wolfson Prize for the best proposal to ‘safely dismantle the Eurozone,’ concluded that a country contemplating leaving the euro would have to keep its plans secret until the last minute, introduce capital controls, start printing a new currency only after formal exit, seek a large depreciation, default on its debts, recapitalize bust banks and seek close co-operation with remaining Eurozone members.

This is a long list of requirements, which suggests that introducing a new currency is complex when done in a planned way.  If done suddenly and under duress, it is a disruptive process with multiple unintended consequences that cannot all be anticipated either on the domestic or the European levels.

So, if BREXIT is a long and complex process, while GREXIT is an intricate, if not chaotic one, what is the position of the left?  Should it be for or against EU exit?  What alternative route would it propose?  In what way should it participate in the political debate?

Both BREXIT and GREXIT will constitute turning points in the history of the EU.  EU Membership is rejected in the first case and threatened in the second one.  Business as usual is no longer possible. A new era has begun.

Since the inception of the EU, the left has argued against the EU’s three main deficits, viz. the democratic, social and ecological one, which cannot be overcome without peace and solidarity as overarching principles.  At each juncture in the history of the EU, a primarily economic project, which however did boost European-ness in the aftermath of World War II, the left has tried to intervene, making proposals for an alternative way of functioning of European institutions so as to better serve the public interest.  As the power of finance increased, the left fought against any antinomies and neoliberal policies that went with it.  The crisis has acted as a catalyst in terms of political developments.  Although many on the left could see it coming, the left as a whole was slow in responding.  The left’s structural weaknesses and its lack of political intermediation limited its role as a political actor.

The rise of SYRIZA in Greece was an exception, caused partly by the depth of the crisis, the evidently failed policies of the Troika and of the established major political parties, and the coming together of various factions within the Greek left.  The European left rallied around SYRIZA providing valuable support.  However, when SYRIZA was elected to government, and after a long period of negotiations that lasted 6 months (as a result of which SYRIZA agreed to many of the demands of the country’s creditors, choosing not to let Greece go bankrupt), the left both in Greece and in the EU was divided.  Should the SYRIZA government have taken Greece out of the euro and thereby default on its obligations?  The mandate of the January 2015 elections was not for default, rather for a new agreement with the country’s creditors which would be mutually beneficial.  This met with the creditors’ intransigence. Thus SYRIZA asked for a new mandate from the Greek electorate in the September 2015 elections, which was granted, forming the second coalition government SYRIZA-ANEL in 2015.  The hypothetical question however remains.  Only history will show whether the route followed by SYRIZA was the right one.

Lexit, i.e. the propagating exit from the EU by the left, came up in the 2016 British referendum.  The argument of Lexiters is that the current treaties and structures of the EU need to be dismantled and replaced by others within the framework of a new union, on the basis of a fundamental reconsideration of the foundations of the EU and its practices, as those stand.  This is a laudable ambition and political objective.  What is lacking, however, is a roadmap towards the goal to be achieved.  In view of the internal weaknesses of the left and its lack of political intermediation in the decision-making process, it is hard to see how these goals can be achieved.  Neither does the historical precedence of the 20th century offer many useful insights.

Overall, the left finds itself in a difficult position.  Its role is needed more than ever in the post-WWII period.  However, its internal divisions limit its impact on developments.  This state of limbo must be overcome, if the left is to be able to push forward and work towards putting an end to the crisis in favour of society at large.  In this respect, the SYRIZA experience can offer valuable insights.

Based on a paper presented at the ROSA LUXEMBURG FOUNDATION workshop on BREXIT in Berlin, 9-20 October 2016.

The post EU Exit – The Role of the Left appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Categories: European Union

Debate: Have the authorities failed in Amri case?

Eurotopics.net - Fri, 23/12/2016 - 12:25
Anis Amri, who is suspected of being responsible for the Berlin attack, was under surveillance in Germany for several months on suspicion of planning an attack. Before that, according to media reports, he was in prison in Italy. These latest reports have sparked a debate about whether the authorities have failed.
Categories: European Union

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