Opinion | SA well placed to forge new deals with EU and UK
The international community remains in turbulence, but of special significance to SA — itself not without challenges — is the worrying state of affairs in Europe. While SA is wisely trying to diversify its international partnerships, those with Europe, especially the EU, remain of special relevance, economic matters in particular.
Tuesday’s UK parliamentary vote on Brexit was another step in an ongoing process, with the final result still to be fully concluded. Some commentators maintain that regardless of what happens, the UK-SA relationship will remain an important one, with possible growth in trade and investment as an outcome of Brexit. But whatever the outcome, a post-Brexit UK will have challenges on many fronts and will not necessarily be in as strong a position as it was.
The need for the EU to revise the existing format of EU economic partnership agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific grouping of countries, including all of sub-Saharan Africa, is urgent because in the light of Africa’s new continental free trade agreement it is outdated and unrealistic in many respects. Adding to uncertainties is that the ACP, a primary framework for relations between the EU and sub-Saharan Africa, will end in 2020 with a future format still be to be finalised.
On February 19, 2019 the first meeting of the joint council of the EU-Sadc EPA was held in Cape Town at ministerial level, a milestone for the Southern Africa-EU partnership. The goals of the new Africa-Europe Alliance were mentioned in a joint communiqué, along with the need to enhance sanitary as well as phyto-sanitary and other measures to allow improved implementation of the EPA.
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