Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore how the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) negotiated between the EU and "imagined" African regional groupings have disrupted regional processes in Africa.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will explore how the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) negotiated between the EU and "imagined" African regional groupings have disrupted regional processes in Africa. Negotiated under the auspice of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the EPAs were intended to be "drivers of development" for the African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries. However, the negotiations have been protracted and contentious, with the few agreements that have been signed falling short of the EU's original expectations. It is the purpose of this paper to reflect on the progress that has been made to date and to critically evaluate the significance of the EPAs for the cartography of African regionalism(s). This paper will argue that the EPAs, in principle at least, are a vehicle through which African countries can integrate into the global economy albeit at the cost of disrupting the ties forged through existing regional economic communities (RECs). A review of the Caribbean EPA offers important insights into the shortcomings of these trade agreements for developing countries and highlight the challenges that African countries may encounter if the EPAs are concluded and implemented. The EPAs also pose a considerable threat to the project of pan-Africanism and this paper will explore whether these trade agreements constitute the (re)colonisation of Africa through trade. Finally, this paper will consider how the EU's trade and development relationship may shift with the revision of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement post-2020 and it will explore what opportunities may arise in the context of EU-Africa relations.