Assembly/AU/Decl.2 (X) Page 2 3. URGES the Regional Economic Communities and African Negotiating Groups that have initialed Interim Agreements to ensure that final agreements still to be signed are coherent with their regional integration agenda; 4. ALSO URGES the African negotiating groups and the Regional Economic Communities to work closely among themselves and with the AU Commission as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to achieve these objectives; 5. FURTHER URGES the Member States that have not already done so, to ratify the Cotonou Partnership Agreement; 6. CALLS ON the European Union and its Member States to deepen the EPA negotiating mandate of the European Commission to enable it to effectively address the development objectives of EPAs; 7. RE-AFFIRMS the mandate of the AU Commission to coordinate, monitor and harmonize the efforts of the concerned RECs and Member States in the negotiations of EPAs with the European Union; 8. REQUESTS the RECs and African Groups negotiating EPAs to facilitate the monitoring and coordinating role of the AU Commission by inviting the latter, to their preparatory meetings and negotiating sessions; 9. CALLS ON the European Union to respect the commitment it made in the Cotonou Partnership Agreement that no ACP country should be worse-off after the end of the Cotonou preferences; 10. URGES the European Union to provide additional resources beyond European Development Fund and not to link the disbursement of EDF and Aid for Trade resources to the signing of EPAs; 11. WELCOMES the proposal of the President of the European Commission for consultations on EPA negotiations between Africa and European Union at the highest political level; 12. REQUESTS the African Union Ministers of Trade and Finance to hold at the earliest opportunity a meeting in preparation for these consultations; 13. ALSO REQUESTS the African regional negotiating groups, Commissions of the AU, RECs, and the EU to work towards successful holding of the African-EU high level consultations on EPAs; 14. URGES the African Union Ministers of Trade and African Negotiators to remain vigilant in the upcoming stages of the EPA negotiations.