President Mbeki to lead South African Delegation to the Inaugural SA-EU Summit in Bordeaux

Pretoria – President Thabo Mbeki, supported by Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, will lead a senior South African government delegation to the inaugural South Africa-European Union Summit scheduled for Friday 25 July in Bordeaux, France. 

The high-level South African delegation will also include Ministers Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Mandisi Mpahlwa and Mosibudi Mangena. 

The EU delegation for the Summit will be led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and will include Javier Solana, Secretary General of the Council and EU High Representative for CFSP, as well as José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. 

This first Summit of the South Africa – European Union Troika will be held in the context of the ongoing political dialogue (the Mogôbagôba Dialogue) under the auspices of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership and the SA-EU Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA). 

It will be the first regular Summit since the establishment of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership in May 2007 and is a continuation of discussions that have already taken place during six SA-EU Ministerial Troika meetings since November 2004.  A key objective is to further deepen SA-EU relations and to address shared bilateral, regional and global interests through frank, open and uninhibited discussions.

Issues on the agenda of discussions are expected to include, among others:

• Progress on the implementation of the SA-EU Strategic partnership; 
• SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreements;
• Africa-EU Joint Action Plan;
• Environment and Climate change;
• Migration;
• Food Security;
• WTO/Doha Development Round; and
• African and global security issues.

The Summit will be preceded by the 7th SA-EU Ministerial Troika meeting on the morning of Friday 25 July 2008.  The SA delegation to the Ministerial Troika will be led by Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who will be supported by her counterparts from the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Science and Technology and Trade and Industry. 

The EU Troika delegation will be led by the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, and will include Mr Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development. 

The Ministerial Troika will discuss the implementation of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan and future areas of cooperation.

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 over five-fold, from R 56.5 billion in 1994 to R 313 billion in 2007.
• In 2007 South Africa’s exports to the EU-15 amounted to R 137 billion. The EU ranked as South Africa’s number one exporting region for 2007. South Africa’s total imports from the EU-15 amounted to R 176 billion in 2007, 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. 

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.

Issued by Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853

Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001

24 July 2008