The EU-SADC EPA, a Basis for a Sustainable Partnership?

The implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the SADC EPA Group has started in autumn 2016. Covering Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) it was the first EPA the EU concluded with an African region. Although the agreement is based on the principle of asymmetrical market opening and a development angle, negotiations were accompanied by protests and fear of detrimental effects on the economies of the Southern African partners.

Five years of implementation, the regular evaluation by the Commission and the changing expectation of the Africa-EU partnership provide a good opportunity for an assessment of this EPA. With our panellists from Southern Africa and the EU we would like to take a closer look at its trade and economic impact. Are there a tangibles effects of diversification, regional integration and sustainable development?

Is the SADC EPA still a modern trade agreement given the region’s pressing issues like poverty, employment and climate change but also dynamic developments such as the AfCFA? This online roundtable on Africa-EU relations is co-hosted by Dr. Joachim Schuster, MEP and the EU-Office of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

English-German interpretation will be provided.

Please register here

Contact: Daniela.Iller(at)fes-europe.eu