In September 2007, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) organised a capacity building workshop for economic and financial journalists on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA). Since then, a lot has changed. The regional negotiation framework broke down when the ECOWAS Commission came out clearly that the December 2007 deadline for signing full EPA was not feasible and that enough time was needed to go through the negotiation process. Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire went ahead to sign "Interim" or "Stepping Stone" EPAs in order that their trade relation with the EU would not be disrupted.
The new situation has serious implications for the development of the West African sub-region and for the regional integration agenda of the sub-region. The FES, therefore, organised this workshop which looked at international trade broadly as a tool for propelling global development, the role of international actors in setting global trade rules and practices, the current state of affairs in the negotiations of the EPA, the interim EPA and implications for both regional integration and Ghana's development, as well as civil society positions and advocacy strategies on the interim EPA. Participants' understanding of issues of international trade, the interim EPA and the implications for national development was broadened.
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