Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the normal functioning of parliamentary ratification processes in developing countries of the EU bringing forward the deadlines for ratification of EU Economic Partnership Agreements.

The EU has not brought forward the deadlines for ratification of Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) partners. EU Regulation 1528/2007 of 20 December 2007 states that ratification of the agreements should take place “within a reasonable period of time.” I expect the parliamentary ratification processes in developing countries to function as normal in relation to these agreements.