Normative Power Europe? Economic Partnership Agreements and Africa

Andy Storey discusses whether Europe is adopting normative approach in its international trade dealings. Former European Union (EU) Commission President Romano Prodi claims that Jeremy Rifkin's book 'The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream:' The EU provides a unique model for how people can live together simultaneously within and beyond nations, thus removing a perennial source of conflict between people. Many non-governmental organizations (NGO) have long been highly critical of any suggestion that the EU is driven by progressive, normative concerns. They point to EU requests under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) to 109 countries. Critics note that it is precisely these ambitions on the part of the EU, to push the 'Singapore Issues' into trade agreements have been rejected by most developing countries at World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiation.