Minister Dlamini Zuma to host South Africa – European Union Ministerial Troika Meeting

Pretoria – South African Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will today Wednesday 10 October 2007 co-chair the 5 th South Africa – European Union (EU) Ministerial Troika Meeting at the Presidential Guesthouse in Pretoria.

The EU Troika will consist of the Foreign Minister of Portugal, Dr Luis Amado, as the current Presidency-in-Office of the EU, Mr Louis Michel, the EU Development Commissioner, as well as a representative from the General Secretariat of the European Council.  Furthermore, the EU delegation will also include Mr Matjaž Šinkovec, State Secretary in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Slovenia, on behalf of the future EU Presidency.

Minister Dlamini Zuma will co-chair, together with Minister Amado, this session of the SA-EU Ministerial Troika meeting within the context of South Africa’s priority to strengthen and consolidate the new strategic partnership between South Africa and the European Union.  The Strategic Partnership, which builds upon the SA-EU Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA), seeks to improve existing cooperation on issues of mutual interest across a broad spectrum of bilateral, regional, continental and global issues.

Issues on the agenda of discussions of the SA-EU Ministerial Troika meeting are expected to include, among others:

• A report from the Joint Co-operation Council and the implementation of the Joint Action Plan of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership; and
• Regional and global co-operation between South Africa and the European Union including:

• The joint EU-Africa Strategy;
• The European Commission – SADC Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations;
• The World Trade Organisation/ Doha Development Round negotiations;
• African peace, security and peacekeeping operations including developments in the Great Lakes region, Chad, Sudan and Somalia;
• The Middle East Peace Process; and
• Kosovo.

Following the Ministerial Troika, South Africa and the European Union will sign the Additional Protocol to the Agreement on Trade, Development and Cooperation between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and South Africa, of the other part, to take account of the accession of  the Republics of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union, as well as the new Multi-Annual Indicative Programme for South Africa, in which the European Union provides  €980 million in development funding for the 2007-2013 EU budgetary cycle.

The SA-EU Ministerial Troika Meeting will be preceded by the 8 th meeting of the SA-EU Joint Cooperation Council (JCC) on 10 October 2007, which provides oversight and direction for the proper functioning and implementation of the TDCA and dialogue between the Parties.  The JCC will be co-chaired by the Director General of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ayanda Ntsaluba, and Mr. Vasco Bramão Ramos, the Political Director General of the Portuguese Department of Foreign Affairs. 

South Africa is presently involved in negotiations with the EU to finalise the revision of the TDCA.  Matters under discussion on the agenda of the JCC include, therefore, an overview of cooperation between South Africa and the European Union in the areas of Science and Technology, the Environment, Trade and Development Cooperation.  Furthermore, the JCC will also receive reports from the four Negotiating Groups which were established for the revision of the TDCA, namely on Political dialogue, Trade, Economic and Other Areas of Cooperation, as well as Development Cooperation.  The JCC will also adopt and present a Joint Report to the Ministerial Troika Meeting on SA-EU Cooperation under the TDCA and on the revision of the Agreement.

SA-EU Economic Relations

• The EU is the world’s largest trading bloc and generates about 30% of global GDP and 20% of global trade flows.  It is the world’s biggest aid donor to poor countries, contributing approximately half of global aid.
• Implementation of the TDCA’s trade provisions has been under way since 2000 with the aim of establishing a Free Trade Area (FTA) between South Africa and the EU by 2012. Total trade has increased from R 56.5 billion in 1994 to R 278 billion in 2006.
• In 2006 South Africa’s exports to the EU-15 amounted to R 124 billion. The EU ranked as South Africa’s number one exporting region for 2006. South Africa’s total imports from the EU-15 amounted to R 154 billion in 2006, also ranking number one.
• Europe remains the principal source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa, accounting for around 80% of total FDI in 2005. Additionally, the EU accounted for approximately 66% of net foreign investment in South Africa in 2003 and 2004, and in 2005 the EU’s share of the total assets held by foreigners in South Africa amounted to approximately 60%.
• The EU is South Africa’s largest development partner representing approximately 70% of all Overseas Development Assistance (ODA), with South Africa earmarked to receive € 980 million for 2007-2013. The European Investment Bank has also approved a loan mandate of € 900 million for South Africa.

The SA-EU Strategic Partnership

Following the visit of President Mbeki to the EU in November 2004, there was a reappraisal in the European Commission of relations with SA. The Commission felt that SA-EU relations needed to be  elevated beyond the framework provided for in the SA-EU Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) into a substantive strategic partnership along the lines of those the EU has with countries like India and China, etc. This resulted in informal discussions between the SA Mission in Brussels and the European Commission (EC) about the developing nature of the SA-EU relationship, which eventually led to the matter being raised at the November 2005 SA-EU Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting. The JCC accepted a Joint Report mandating that “… new steps need to be taken to ensure that South Africa – EU relations develop into a truly strategic partnership…”.

In February 2006 the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Mr. Louis Michel, presented President Mbeki and Minister Dlamini Zuma with a non-paper entitled “A possible EU-SA strategic partnership”.  In a letter dated 30 May 2006, President Mbeki provided a preliminary response, in which he expressed himself in favour of a strategic partnership between South Africa and the EU.  Based on the various aforementioned interactions, and also using the opportunity offered by the requirement for a mid-term review of the TDCA, the EC subsequently published a paper on 28 June 2006 titled “Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament: Towards an EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership”.

In November 2006 the JCC adopted a Joint Statement on the SA-EU Strategic Partnership, which called for a Joint Action Plan to be finalised and agreed to at the next SA-EU Ministerial Troika meeting to be held on 14 May 2007, and that a progress report on its implementation be drafted for adoption at the November 2007 JCC. The parties agreed that the Strategic Partnership should add value to the existing cooperation, including the SA-EU Joint Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for 2007-2013, as well as to the present review and full implementation of the TDCA. 

Subsequently, following several rounds of intense negotiations, the SA-EU Ministerial Troika meeting of 14 May 2007 agreed to the Joint Action Plan for the establishment of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership.  In terms of the structure of the Strategic Partnership and its overall relation to the SA-EU Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) agreement was reached on the following issues, namely:

• There will be high-level political talks twice a year in Troika format. This forms the core of political dialogue between the EU and South Africa. The meetings will take place in South Africa and the EU. The dialogue should take place at Summit level on a regular basis;
• High-level ad hoc meetings on issues of common interest will be effected whenever necessary;
• The JCC should take place alternately in South Africa and the EU.  It will meet at Senior Officials and/or Ministerial level.
• Full use will be made of opportunities for contacts between South African Ministers and their EU counterparts on issues of mutual interest;
• There would be periodic meetings at the level of senior officials and experts to exchange views on regional, continental and global issues;
• To maintain and strengthen regular dialogue at the level of Heads of Mission’s meetings with the South African Department of Foreign Affairs;
• To review at the Summit, Ministerial Troika and JCC-level meetings the effective implementation of decisions taken, and jointly decide on future actions.

Media Programme for South Africa – European Union Ministerial Troika Meeting, Wednesday 10 October 2007

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853

Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

10 October 2007