What are the challenges? The challenges that remain include the following: There have been several incidents where the European Commission clung to its position and rejected ACP proposals. ACP countries felt bullied. Secondly, the Interim Economic Partnership Agreements have caused divisions in the different regions because the EU negotiated these IEPAs with individual countries and not the whole region, as they were meant to do. Thirdly, the European Commission's proposal to amend the Market Access Regulation 1528 of 2007, to withdraw preferential market access from those ACP countries that have not begun to ratify the IEPAs by 2014, have upset the ACP group because it would force these countries to accept the agreements, not because they think they will serve development but because they want to avoid losing preferences. The European Parliament's Committee on International Trade has called on the European Commission to give the ACP another two years before they vote. Actually, this vote on whether they will allow extending the deadline will take place tomorrow.