The implications of TTIP for employment are uncertain for the EU and US, but also for developing countries.

As the latest phase of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and African regions are set to close by 1 October 2014, many African countries have been sealing a deal to preserve their market access to Europe. The immediate employment effect will be to preserve jobs in the African sectors exporting to Europe. But looking forward, can EPAs foster more productive and ‘decent’ job creation, as African countries increasingly face the challenge of a growing youth population?

Liberia has been hit hardest by the Ebola outbreak. It makes sense to focus much attention to this country, as well as its neighbours Sierra Leone and Guinea. But Ebola is not just a crisis for Liberia Sierra Leone, or Guinea. The devastation it creates in these severely affected countries is also felt in the entire West-African region and beyond.

A difficult choice looms in the post-2015 debate between accepting a progressive but imperfect starting point for intergovernmental negotiations, and risking losing all the gains made so far.