EU and 4 African states agree trade deal

(BRUSSELS) - The EU and four southern African states have initialled an interim Economic Partnership Agreement aimed at liberalising trade ties, the European Commission said Sunday.

The deal will initially cover Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique, with Namibia and South Africa to decide "in the coming days" whether to add their names to the agreement.

"This is a historic step forward in the relationship between the EU and southern Africa," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said in a statement.

The announcement from the European Commission added that both sides would continue negotiations towards a full Economic Partnership Agreement in 2008.

"I welcome the commitment shown by both sides and the leadership shown by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) negotiators in completing these essential negotiations," Mandelson added.

The announcement drew immediate flak from the British aid organisation Oxfam, which also lamented the lack of details of the interim deal.

"Developing countries are under a lot of pressure to open up their markets to the EU too fast, with potentially devastating impacts on livelihoods and economic development," said its Brussels office chief, Luis Morago.

Oxfam noted that the four countries concerned were the smallest in the region and some were heavily dependant on EU aid, which "suggests that they are being picked off as a way of weakening resistance in other quarters".

"A domino effect may well be caused as other regions feel they cannot hold out against the pressure being exerted by the European Commission any longer. This is obviously what the commission would like to happen," Morago said.