Ghana in Search of Regional Integration Agenda 151 Netherlands, etc.- criticising the high-handedness of the European Commission in negotiating the EPAs; unprecedented public criticism of EPA by West African Government officials, including the President of Senegal as well as the receptivity of Ghanaian Parliamentarians to the CSO interventions on EPA, as evidenced by their readiness to participate in meetings and forums initiated by the CSOs. Again, West Africa's October 2007 decision, in Abidjan, that they could not conclude an EPA by end 2007 was significant even if Ghana and La Cote d'Ivoire were to break ranks in December and sign interim EPAs, following immense pressures from the European Commission and exporters whose principal export market was the EU. The Trade Union Working Group also held strategic alliance meetings with private sector representatives in Sally, Senegal, and farmers and producer organisations in Accra, in December 2006 and June 2007 respectively. These meetings deepened organised labour's recognition of the imperative of strengthening the social base of the campaigns against the Economic Partnership Agreement and, in the process, pushing the regional integration agenda. Indeed the outcomes strengthened the resolve of the trade activists as these other social groupings demonstrated their shared commitment. The strategic alliance meeting with the private sector demanded for the extension of the negotiation deadline from 2007 to 2010. Moreover, they identified some development benchmarks that should be realised before the completion of the EPA negotiations. Among these benchmarks are the deepening of regional integration and strengthening of intra-regional trade; the development of national policies on competition, investment and procurement and the harmonisation of regional policies on same; and the development and harmonisation of sub-regional strategies for agricultural and industrial development. The meeting with farmers and rural producer organisations made conclusions and demands that were even more far reaching. These conclusions and demands included the creation of an effective regional customs union; the establishment of a common external tariff which facilitates the implementation of the Economic Community of West Africa Agricultural Policy and guarantees food sovereignty; the conclusion of the Doha Round with a multilateral framework that responds clearly to the expectations of the developing countries; the creation and protection of employment that respects international labour standards. What is more, the meeting also demanded the deepening of regional integration“in a manner that involves the people of West Africa and primarily serves their interests.” 165 165 West African Trade Union Working Group on Trade and Development, A Compilation of Work Done: 2005-2008, (Cotonou, FES, 2009)