Central Africa put to the test by Economic Partnership Agreements

Following the signing of the Cotonou Agreement in June 2000, the ACP countries and the EU set themselves the key objective of signing EPAs with a view to facilitating the smooth and gradual integration of the ACP countries into the global economy. To this end, negotiations between the EU and the ACP countries were organised at sub-regional level from 2002 onwards, following their launch at ACP level. Consequently, six sub-regions - including Central Africa, represented by CEMAC - were involved in these negotiations. Despite its normative and institutional recognition, it must be acknowledged that CEMAC lacks the actual capacity to position itself as an autonomous regional actor capable of negotiating on behalf of its member states. This inability thus highlights the fragility of the community-building process that characterises the sub-region, the immediate consequence of which is the absence of a common regional vision within the EPAs. Furthermore, the negotiating configuration does not correspond to any sub-regional grouping currently in existence in Central Africa. This further hinders CEMAC's involvement in these negotiations, as two other non-member countries - namely the DRC and São Tomé and Príncipe - are part of the process.