World Council of Churches - News Release
Contact: +41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org For immediate release - 06/12/2007 10:43:44 AM
EUROPEAN UNION SHOULD NOT PRESSURE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO HASTILY SIGN TRADE AGREEMENTS AGAINST THEIR INTERESTS, WCC SAYS
Concern about undue pressure exerted by the European Union on African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to sign interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) by the end of the year has been expressed by World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia in a 6 December letter to EU commissioner for external trade Peter Mandelson. The interim agreements open up local markets to competition with European companies without adequate legal frameworks and infrastructure in place, and they address issues which are still contentious within a deadline that prevents parliamentary discussion. Therefore these agreements represent an imminent danger of revenue loss for those countries, hindering their poverty eradication efforts, the letter affirms.
Full text of the letter http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=5160
See the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance campaign to support churches opposing interim trade agreements http://www.e-alliance.ch/wrapper.jsp?/php/cutenews/show_news.php?subaction =showfull&id=1196439728&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&
Additional information:Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363media@wcc -coe.org Sign up for WCC press releases at http://onlineservices.wcc-coe.org/pressnames.nsf
The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 347 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
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