Anger over EU trade deals should be 'wake-up call': Oxfam

---

LONDON, Dec 10 (AFP): Disappointment and anger from African leaders over trade deals with the European Union should serve as a "wake-up call" for the bloc's leaders, Oxfam said yesterday.
European leaders admitted earlier that negotiations over so-called Economic Partership Agreements (EPAs) were struggling, as the two continents ended a landmark summit aimed at forging a new relationship.
"That the trade agreements being negotiated between the EU and Africa got so much attention at this summit shows just how many problems there are with the current proposals and how urgently the European Commission needs to review its approach and change its demands," said Amy Barry, the charity's spokeswoman at the summit in Lisbon.
"The dissatisfaction and anger expressed by some African leaders about the trade negotiations should be a wake-up call to European leaders and development-minded member states.
"At the meeting of foreign ministers tomorrow in Brussels, they should agree that no country will face increased tariffs on January 1st if they haven't signed a trade deal. Meanwhile, potentially harmful provisions in interim deals already agreed by some countries should be reviewed."
The EU is seeking new trade agreements with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations to replace the current preferential system that has been ruled illegal by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).