Trade impasse as EU seeks deal with entire EAC bloc
Workers prepare roses for export to the European market at Maridadi Flowers warehouse in Naivasha. Kenya has been pushing for the EA in order to guarantee a continued market access for its exports to European countries. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Five months after the East African Community deferred signing the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union, it has emerged that Tanzania’s unyielding stance could force a stay of the status quo as the EU is hesitant to push the region to sign a trade deal that threatens its cohesion as a bloc.
Well-placed sources at the European Commission told The EastAfrican that the EAC negotiated and concluded a bilateral trade agreement with the EU as a bloc, and it must remain as such.
