Free Trade Is Unilateral

The EU, of all things, has exercised unilateral free trade agreements with West Africa.

Certainly, 11 out of 15 ECOWAS countries, i.e. all its Least Developed Countries (LDCs),
enjoy already full market access to the EU under the Everything but Arms (EBA) initiative
since 2001
2
. The latter grants LDCs free access to European markets without being forced to
open their own markets to EU imports. Therefore, these LDCs might think that they have little
to lose if the EPAs would fail. The EU, however, made it clear that EBA is an unilateral
arrangement granted by the EU which may be opened to LDCs outside the ACP

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