However, this http://m.en.freshnewsasia.com/index.php ... 36-18.html From Freshnews says that the EU ambassador to Cambodia just reaffirmed that EBA will continue until 2027

Clemen wrote:However, this http://m.en.freshnewsasia.com/index.php ... 36-18.html From Freshnews says that the EU ambassador to Cambodia just reaffirmed that EBA will continue until 2027

Well, frrshnews are usually on the ball!

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Clemen wrote: ↑Sun Oct 07, 2018 5:31 pm However, this http://m.en.freshnewsasia.com/index.php ... 36-18.html From Freshnews says that the EU ambassador to Cambodia just reaffirmed that EBA will continue until 2027

I believe that is only Freshnews interpretation of it. I'm pretty sure he actually said that EBA can continue if all rules are followed AND it can be continued even if Cambodia gets "promoted" from lower-middle income economy to upper-middle income economy before 2027.

On Myanmar and Cambodia
By Cecilia Malmström | European Commission, 5 October 2018

I'm in beautiful Innsbruck, Austria, where we have had an informal Ministerial meeting today. The way forward as regards the much-needed reform of the World Trade Organisation was high on our agenda, as was our trade relationship with the United States.

But on a different topic, one that was mentioned at the press conference here today but worth outlining a bit more in detail – the EU's response to the human rights situation in Myanmar and Cambodia, respectively.

In Myanmar, we have seen a deeply worrying and worsening situation for the Rohingya minority. A recent report from a United Nations fact-finding mission calls for the prosecution of top military leaders for genocide and crimes against humanity. The report describes indiscriminate killings, widespread rape by the military, assaulting of children, and the burning down of entire villages. The country's leadership has repeatedly disregarded calls from the EU and the international community to put a stop to this.

In Cambodia, meanwhile, we are seeing very troubling developments with a clear deterioration of human rights and labour rights, without convincing improvements in sight. Our recent EU mission to the country demonstrated serious and systemic violations of, for instance, freedom of expression, labour rights and freedom of association. This comes on top of longstanding issues as regards workers’ rights and land-grabbing.

Both Cambodia and Myanmar benefit from the Everything But Arms arrangement, or EBA, which guarantees completely tariff-free access to the European market for all exports except for weapons and ammunition. However, this access is not without conditions. It comes with a responsibility to uphold and respect the values enshrined in 15 fundamental conventions of the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation.
http://kimedia.blogspot.com/2018/10/on- ... .html#more

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:26 am On Myanmar and Cambodia
By Cecilia Malmström | European Commission, 5 October 2018

I'm in beautiful Innsbruck, Austria, where we have had an informal Ministerial meeting today. The way forward as regards the much-needed reform of the World Trade Organisation was high on our agenda, as was our trade relationship with the United States...

Why don't you quote and link to the original blog post instead of to some copy&paste clickbait blog? https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commiss ... ambodia_en

rogerrabbit wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 1:01 am

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:26 am On Myanmar and Cambodia
By Cecilia Malmström | European Commission, 5 October 2018

I'm in beautiful Innsbruck, Austria, where we have had an informal Ministerial meeting today. The way forward as regards the much-needed reform of the World Trade Organisation was high on our agenda, as was our trade relationship with the United States...

Why don't you quote and link to the original blog post instead of to some copy&paste clickbait blog? https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commiss ... ambodia_en

This step further in the process seems pretty vague and lame.
CPP could be forgiven for scratching their heads about what reforms are expected. They were probably going to pull their heads in a bit anyway, now that they've got another 5 years in power.

I think the smart move now is to allow most of the opposition to walk free maybe with the exception of a few very vocal and stubborn individuals just as a reminder. EU abandoning EBA is actually much more serious than it seems as a lot of the Chinese (but not only Chinese) industrialts here is not in Vietnam specifically for taking advantage of the EBA.

EU Tariffs Threaten to Flatten Cambodia
9 October 2018
Months after Cambodia held what many observers saw as a badly rigged election, the European Union is ramping up trade pressure in punitive response to the move away from rights and democracy.

The EU announced on October 5 that Cambodia would lose its special access to European markets under the so-called Everything But Arms (EBA) preferential trade scheme after it conducts a six-month review of its duty-free status launched last week.

The EU is currently Cambodia’s largest export market. The announcement came as a surprise to Cambodian officials, many of whom had publicly doubted the EU would withdraw Cambodia’s privileged market access despite numerous warnings from Brussels.

The economic repercussions of higher tariffs on Cambodia-produced goods could be immense. Cambodian exports to the EU were worth US$5.8 billion last year, the majority of which came from the country’s crucial garment and footwear sectors. Garment exports account for around 40% of Cambodia’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Asia Times analysis of official trade statistics shows that higher European tariffs could reduce garment sector revenues by as much as 11% per annum, a decline that could send the sector into free-fall and impact on the livelihoods of millions of Cambodians. The process for removing Cambodia from the EBA scheme is lengthy and incremental, and is not expected to fully begin for another six-months.

At that time, if there are “no clear and evident improvements on the ground” then it “will lead to the suspending of the trade preferences that they currently enjoy,” European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström wrote in a blog post on October 5.
http://www.atimes.com/article/eu-tariff ... -cambodia/

Opinion piece from Cambodian analyst Chan Khunthiny:

October 15, 2018
Cambodia and paradoxes of EBA
It is unfair for Cambodia – whose government did not come to power through a military coup and its state apparatus is non-communist – to suffer unnecessary economic sanctions from the EU in the form of withdrawal of its trade preferences under the Everything but Arms scheme, writes Chan Khunthiny.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50540339/c ... es-of-eba/

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:13 pm Opinion piece from Cambodian analyst Chan Khunthiny:

October 15, 2018
Cambodia and paradoxes of EBA
It is unfair for Cambodia – whose government did not come to power through a military coup and its state apparatus is non-communist – to suffer unnecessary economic sanctions from the EU in the form of withdrawal of its trade preferences under the Everything but Arms scheme, writes Chan Khunthiny.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50540339/c ... es-of-eba/

A poorly argued "Unfair to Cambodia, others are just as bad or worse, or, horror, communists" opinion.
But the others don't have EBA deals.
Again, these are not sanctions being imposed, but withdrawal of privilege.