The economic partnership agreements (EPAs), proposed by the European Union (EU) to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, constitute a "neo-colonial instrument" which will destroy the economic and social basis in African states, according to some German non-governmental organisations. European opponents of EPAs say that, in general, the trade negotiations between the EU and the ACP countries have been driven predominantly by European corporate interests and those of a few privileged business elites in ACP countries.