Honourable Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Honourable Chairperson of the Development Committee
Honourable Chairpersons of the Delegations for Relations with South Africa and the Pan-African Parliament
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
This is my first visit to this House and I extend my appreciation to President Buzek for his warm welcome and the good engagement we had this morning.
Our discussions on development cooperation, the global efforts on climate change and the European Investment Bank’s ongoing cooperation with South Africa, highlighted the extent of our engagement with the European Union.
Indeed, our relations with the European Union have evolved since the advent of our democracy 16 years ago.
Yesterday, we had a successful third South Africa-European Union Summit, which reflected this. Currently, the European Union is South Africa’s largest trading partner, accounting for 40 percent of our imports and 30 percent of our exports.
Furthermore, the European Union remains our largest investment and development partner.
Based on the success of the 1999 Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement, we formalised a Strategic Partnership in 2007.
In practice, this has translated into the creation of 12 Dialogue Forums, covering sectors such as Health, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, Trade, and Science and Technology, where we cooperate on concrete programmes and projects.
In addition, since 1994, the European Investment Bank has extended over 2 billion Euros to over 40 projects that have complemented the work of our government in the most critical sectors for our development, including the improvement of service delivery, energy, infrastructure development, support to small and medium enterprises and micro-finance.
The investment in infrastructure development was highlighted by our successful hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
In addition to the bilateral engagement, South Africa also engages the European Union as a member of the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.
In all these engagements, we believe that the European Union can play an important, developmental role in the developing world. Consequently, the partnerships with Africa and the other developing regions must be strengthened to complement the developmental agendas of the regions.
In this regard, the upcoming third Africa – European Union Summit to be held in Libya during November, is an important event.
It will provide an opportunity for both parties to re-affirm their commitment to the partnership and look at how to improve the implementation of the Joint Strategy beyond 2010.
We believe there is a large untapped potential that would strengthen the partnership and result in tangible outcomes for Africa.
We look forward to a constructive engagement that will also be creative, realistic and rejuvenate the partnership, based on collective ownership and leadership.
The outcomes of the United Nations Review Conference on the Millennium Development Goals must also inform the Summit and the implementation of the Joint Strategy post-2010.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The European Union’s relations with the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group are critical, particularly trade relations.
The difficulties being experienced in the current Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations highlight a need for a paradigm shift on the negotiations.
The second Africa – European Union Summit held in 2007 in Lisbon discussed this issue at length and yet we ourselves in the same position once again.
As a member of the SADC EPA Group, we remain committed to the finalisation of the negotiations. However, we must reiterate that the focus must be on a developmental, mutually beneficial final agreement, which supports regional integration efforts in Southern Africa.
In this regard, the key outstanding issues, which include the Rules of Origin must be resolved in order for a final agreement to be reached.
The resolution of the Doha Development Round would also ensure that international trade becomes more equitable and supports the development agenda, of which more than two thirds of the WTO members are seized with.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is our view that the European Parliament has a critical role to play in the implementation and oversight of the European Union’s relations, not just with South Africa, but with Africa and the developing world.
We believe that the European Parliament can be the engine that drives deeper understanding between the European Union and the rest of the world, in particular Africa.
Consequently, we will continue to engage the committees, particularly on issues of domestic, regional and continental importance.
We look forward to the visit by the Committee on International Trade to South Africa during October for deeper engagement on some of these issues.
We also appreciate the good relations we have with the Delegations for Relations with South Africa, and the Pan-African Parliament.
Both bodies, including the ACP-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly, continue to provide our parliamentarians the opportunity to further cooperation and deepen mutual understanding.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Global crises and increased globalisation have resulted in an undeniable need for strengthened cooperation through sustainable partnerships that will steer sustainable development.
We have and continue to pursue our Strategic Partnership with the European Union with this motivation.
We believe that the partnership can remain strong and complement our development agenda, through continued commitment from both parties, for the benefit of both South African and European people.
I thank you for your welcome and your time.
Thank you!
