Facility for the Deepening of the EPA negotiations between EU and ESA 5 countries: Provision of short term consultancy services for thematic areas

In 2007, six countries of the Eastern and South Africa region (ESA) concluded an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (interim EPA - iEPA) with the European Union (UE). Two years later, in 2009, four countries (Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius and Zimbabwe) signed the iEPA, and have been provisionally implementing it since May 14 2012. In January 2013, the EU Parliament gave its consent on the text of the interim EPA, while Comoros started its provisional application in February 2019. The current iEPA focuses on providing duty-free, quota-free access for good imports from the ESA countries, which in turn and according to individually tailored timelines, agreed to liberalize their markets to goods exported from the EU. The original iEPA text caters, in a rendez-vous clause, for the possibility to deepen the iEPA by including a broad range of topics to achieve an upgraded EPA. The deepening process started in 2017, when four of the 5 ESA countries (later on referred to as ESA5) expressed their interest to deepen the agreement beyond trade in goods. Negotiations for the deepening of the existing iEPA were officially launched in Mauritius in October 2019. The overall objective of this project is to "enhance the technical knowledge and capacity of the ESA 5 countries for a successful deepening of the iEPA". Two specific objectives will be achieved: Build capacity of officials from the ESA5 countries in technical areas that are relevant to the EPA negotiations. Provide short term expertise to the ESA5 countries to develop their negotiating positions in highly technical areas on a demand-driven basis. To this end was created the so-called ESA5 EPA Facility, composed of 15 technical experts covering all thematic areas under negotiations, namely: Free Movement of Goods Rules of origin (RoO); Customs and trade facilitation (CTF); Sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS); Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT); Trade defence Mechanisms; Export taxes. Trade in Services (including domestic regulation in areas such as telecoms, delivery services, financial services, maritime transport), Digital trade and Investment; Public procurement (transparency rules); Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Trade and Competition; Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD); Agriculture; Dispute avoidance and settlement; Institutional Structure (including civil society involvement); Economic Development Cooperation; and Fisheries. The ESA5 EPA Facility revolves around two main components: Provide on-demand technical trainings to EPA negotiators from all 5 countries before the negotiation rounds to help them acquire the technical and theoretical knowledge necessary to analyse the stakes of the proposed EU position papers and draft their own positions Provide support during the negotiation rounds to the EPA negotiators from the 5 countries.