Economic partnership agreements: Machiavellian instruments of EU trade policy or Samaritan development tools?
by Katharina Anna Serrano
International Journal of Private Law (IJPL), Vol. 2, No. 3, 2009

Abstract: The European Union (EU) has recently been confronted with harsh critique as to the strategic motives and methods employed in its trade relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. This has especially been the case after negotiations of economic partnership agreements (EPAs) have proven to be far from a smooth process. There is increasing concern about the developmental value of EPAs and their support for sustainable regional economic integration of ACP countries. This paper seeks to examine whether EPAs truly are development tools or rather strategic instruments used by the EU as catalysts in achievement of a global player status – at all cost. The theoretical framework employed for this analysis is based on Machiavelli's virtues proposed to a successful leader in his work Il Principe. These will be critically compared with EU's aims and objectives as expressed in the legal framework underlying EU-ACP relations in the 21st century. The intention is to make possible a preliminary judgment of EU's success in integrating development and trade policy while explaining underlying reasons of EU behaviour as economic power and ACP partner.

Online publication date: Fri, 27-Mar-2009

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