Following agreement on the terms of reference for impact studies on economic partnership agreements (and the release of funds by the European Commission) criticism of the proposed time frame for implementation were expressed at the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. The Commission appeared to be proposing that short studies (costing Euro 70,000 and carried out over a 4 to 6 week period) should be conducted to look at the potential impact of EPAs and that these studies should aim to be finished in time for ACP Ministers to make a decision on the geographical basis for negotiations at their December 2001 meeting. This tight time frame was strongly criticised by Glenys Kinnock (MEP) as wholly inadequate given the importance of the issues to be addressed.
Speaking at a fringe meeting on post-Cotonou trade negotiations, Rob Davies (MP-South Africa) expressed concern that the envisaged impact assessment studies might give rise to a situation where policy questions of fundamental interest to ACP states are de facto delegated to external consultants. He called for a process through which impact assessment studies were the starting point for substantive and inclusive discussions of the implications of moves towards free trade with the EU and the trade policy options open to ACP governments in the light of their underlying economic and social development interests.