Post-Lome Trading Arrangements: the Multilateral Alternative

Following an extensive process of consultation, The European Union has now decided what it wishes to propose to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to replace the fourth Lomé Convention. Its proposals on co-operation, political relations and financial assistance have been relatively uncontroversial, but those on international trade have not been so well received. This chapter focuses on the last, and within that on the arrangement for the bulk of trade rather than the specific protocols for bananas, beef, rum and sugar.