EU Economic Partnership Agreements and International Human Rights

This chapter examines the impact of the intellectual property chapters in the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) on the protection of human rights. It begins by outlining the challenges inherent in any analysis of the interface between intellectual property and human rights. It reminds readers that some of the rights protected under the intellectual property chapters in the EPAs do overlap with rights recognized in existing international or regional human rights instruments. Taking seriously this overlap, the chapter discusses the compatibilities between intellectual property rights and human rights and the resulting synergies created by the EPAs. The chapter then examines the various impediments the EPAs have posed to greater protection of human rights. In particular, it discusses the conflicts and inconsistencies within the EPAs, lost opportunities for promoting human rights and the indirect systemic tension that the agreements have generated within the human rights system. The chapter concludes with a discussion of normative and systemic adjustments that seek to alleviate the tension or conflict between the intellectual property chapters in the EPAs and the international human rights syste