A Pahad: European Commission’s proposal on SA-EU relations

31 July 2006

Excellencies,
Ambassadors,
Colleagues:

Welcome and thank you for joining us.

As you know, the European Commission (EC) has submitted a proposal to South
Africa and the European Council (the European Union Member States) for the
elevation of South Africa - European Union (EU) relations to that of a
strategic partnership. The EC adopted its communication to this affect on 28
June 2006.

What is this proposal and where does South Africa stand on it? It is because
of these questions that we as South Africa find it of the utmost importance
that we share our thoughts on the proposal with you, in a transparent
manner.

Africa and the EU share many common interests and values and are
concurrently committed to achieving peace, security and stability on the
African continent and within the global sphere at large. Amongst these
imperative objectives, both parties strive towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), the implementation of a joint Africa-EU strategy for
Africa, the eradication of poverty and the reform of the United Nations
(UN).

A new framework for the EU-SA relationship was developed after 1994 and
culminated in the signing of the SA-EU Trade, Development and Co-operation
Agreement (TDCA) in 1999. The TDCA affords for political dialogue, trade and
economic co-operation, development co-operation and co-operation in other
areas. The TDCA was provisionally implemented from 1999 and fully entered into
force in May 2004. A Ministerial Joint Co-operation Council (JCC) was
established to oversee the implementation of the TDCA. In addition to the TDCA,
South Africa and the EU have agreements on science and technology and the wines
and spirits.

South Africa has undergone significant political, economical and societal
development and transformation in the past 12 years into a democratic country.
As a result the EU is re-appraising its relations with South Africa and is
aspiring to elevate relations beyond the current level of interactions as
provided by the TDCA.

The possibility of elevating the relations was discussed during the annual
SA-EU Ministerial JCC held in Brussels on 7 November 2005, where both South
Africa and the EU agreed to consider consolidating their relations further. The
JCC decided that "South Africa and the EU therefore need to strengthen and
broaden their existing relationship through a holistic and innovative approach
beyond 2006." South Africa and the EU further agreed "to broaden the scope of
SA-EU relations and work towards a truly strategic partnership based on
political, trade, development and economic co-operation". The EC for
Development and Humanitarian Aid, Mr Louis Michel, presented a non-paper
entitled ‘A possible EU-SA strategic partnership’ during his visit to the
country in February this year.

According to the EU the strategic partnership proposals seek to:

* bring the Member States, the community and South Africa together in a
single and coherent framework with clearly and jointly defined objectives,
covering all areas of co-operation and associating all stakeholders

* move from political dialogue to strategic political co-operation and
shared objectives on regional, African and global issues

* enhance existing co-operation, developing stronger and sustainable
economic co-operation, fully implementing the TDCA provisions on trade-related
areas and extending co-operation to the social, cultural and environmental
fields.

In addition the strategic partnership must build on the "MDG package", the
European consensus on development and the "EU strategy for Africa" by putting
at the heart of political dialogue the progress towards attaining the MDGs
along with governance issues and peace and security at both domestic and
international level.

Through the strategic partnership, South Africa's relations with the EU
would have similar footing to countries that include the United States of
America (USA), Canada, China, Russia and India which also have strategic
partnerships with the EU.

South Africa has agreed in principle to discussing the elevation of its
relations with the EU to that of a strategic partnership. Although South Africa
welcomes the proposal it upholds and affirms its continuing and utmost
commitment to its South African Development Community (SADC), African Union
(AU), African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and South - South partners. South
Africa is mindful of these priorities when entering into any negotiations and
the proposed strategic partnership with the EU is no exception.

According to the proposal, "Political and diplomatic co-operation on African
issues must become an area of stronger entente between South Africa and the EU.
Co-operation should not be limited to financing the AU and funding
peace-keeping missions, but should become an element of a strengthened
partnership. The EU must explore ways with South Africa to define a common
African agenda and to support each other's objectives in Africa."

"Such an entente does not diminish existing EU relations with other African
countries nor does it affect co-operation with the AU and the regional economic
communities. On the contrary it is intended to bring the Africa strategy down
to national level with a view to involving other countries in stronger links
with the EU."

Excellencies, South Africa would like to assure your countries as our
partners that we will only enter into a strategic partnership with the EU on
condition that the partnership enhances South Africa's national, regional and
African responsibilities.

South Africa is conducting intensive internal consultations on the proposal
and still studying the various implications thereof. We anticipate that formal
discussions regarding the strategic partnership could commence once the EC has
tabled their proposed strategic partnership before the European Council, which
is expected to happen in late September this year. The proposal will be one of
the issues discussed at the SA-EU Ministerial Joint Co-operation Council to be
held in November this year.

South Africa views the European Commission's proposal as an important step
which presents an opportunity for African developmental challenges to be placed
higher on the agenda of the EU.

The timing of this is also very important since South Africa will be a
non-permanent member of the Security Council 2007 - 2008 and the responsibility
placed on it will be greater. We will then be in better position to deal with
some of our challenges.

South Africa will, however, have to actively engage the EC on the proposed
partnership in order to obtain clarity on specific elements thereof. In
discussions with the EC it was unequivocally stated by the latter that the
proposed strategic partnership would not replace the TDCA but represent a
strengthening of the existing agreement. The TDCA has thus far provided an
effective framework within which to operate and has served South Africa's
interests well.

The commission has invited the council, the European parliament and the
European economic and social committee to endorse the main thrust of this
proposal. On the basis of these broad principles, the commission will draft an
action plan for implementing the proposal which will be submitted to the Joint
EU-South Africa Co-operation Council in November this year and should lead to a
joint declaration by the partners.

Depending on the discussion in the council, the European parliament and the
economic and social committee as well as on the South African views such an
action plan could focus on:

* strengthened political dialogue, leading to common political positions and
joint action
* active joint involvement in regional and global issues
* implementation of a jointly drafted Country Strategy Paper in line with this
proposal
* revision and full implementation of the TDCA according to the above
priorities.

As we embark on our internal consultations re the EU proposals we would
highly appreciate receiving your governments' thoughts on this matter.

Thank you!

Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
31 July 2006
Source: SAPA