Abstract
The post-Lomé era, from the turn of the twenty-first century, marks a shift from an epoch of non-reciprocal preferential trade under successive Lomé Conventions to one of reciprocal trade within a free trade area under a neoliberal international economic order. Post-Lomé thus constitutes a new age in the relationship between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. In this context, there are several factors that distinguish the Lomé period of preferences from twenty-first century agreements between the EU and ACP states, and which have influenced this development in the Europe-ACP relationship. This article focuses on the influence of one particular factor on the evolution of relations between Western Europe and ACP states that is often overlooked or undertheorized in the predominantly state-centric analyses of same. It therefore investigates and demonstrates the connection between transnational corporate interests and the dramatic shift to the post-Lomé framework for engagement between the EU and ACP states, as well as the progressive neoliberalization of Lomé era agreements even before the dramatic shift in this relationship. The study establishes that the agenda for and outcome of negotiations on the Cotonou Agreement of 2000 largely reflects transnational corporate interests, and that the CARIFORUM-EU EPA of 2008 is also consistent with the pattern of their neoliberal pursuits.
Recommended Citation
Boissiere, Melissa A.
(2022)
"Transnational Corporate Power: From Lomé to the CARIFORUM-EU EPA,"
Class, Race and Corporate Power: Vol. 10:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
DOI: 10.25148/CRCP.10.1.010578
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol10/iss1/3