On Thursday 13 March, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council, António Costa, and the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, announced the first-ever Clean Trade and Investment Partnership (CTIP) between the European Union and South Africa. Meeting in Cape Town, the partners renewed and deepened their strategic cooperation, seven years after their last bilateral summit.
Trade and investment. As agreed, the EU and South Africa have launched negotiations for a Clean Trade and Investment Partnership. Until now, they have been linked by an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which liberalises trade asymmetrically in order to protect sensitive sectors in South Africa.
“You have clean energy in abundance, from wind to sun. You have critical raw material for electrolysers, including 91% of the world’s platinum group metal reserves. And you have a rising industry to produce clean hydrogen and strong export ambitions. European companies are interested in investing here”, said the President of the Commission.
The future CTIP should make their task easier by removing barriers to investment and trade. While it will not be a traditional trade agreement that eliminates all customs duties, the CTIP will have to encourage trade as much as possible, particularly in the technologies of the future. The details remain to be negotiated, but the two partners are aligned on the objectives.
“This partnership will also serve as a forum for regulatory cooperation between the European Union and South Africa in areas of mutual interest related to clean supply chains”, say the two parties in their joint declaration.
In addition to the CTIP, the EU and South Africa have announced the opening of negotiations for a memorandum of understanding on raw materials.
A new European investment package - announced on Thursday to the tune of €4.7 billion as part of the Global Gateway initiative - will be aimed at supporting vaccine production, strengthening pharmaceutical supply chains and financing strategic infrastructure, in particular the ‘North-South’ corridor linking Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to South African ports.
Multilateralism and security. The summit gave concrete expression to a strategic rapprochement, the fruit of several weeks’ preparatory work. Ties with Pretoria have been strengthened, particularly in anticipation of the EU/African Union summit scheduled for the second half of 2025, as well as South Africa’s presidency of the G20.
“The European Union and South Africa are not just partners, we are strategic allies, bound by shared values of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and multilateralism”, stressed António Costa at the opening of the summit, describing the changing geopolitical landscape.
In the joint declaration adopted on Thursday, the EU and South Africa reiterate their “unwavering” commitment to act in accordance with international law and the principles of the United Nations Charter.
“The European Union does not see the future through the lens of division between blocks, between North and South. Instead, we see an interconnected world, where our fates are linked, and where joint action is not an option but a necessity”, said Mr Costa.
In addition, the partners have launched an ‘EU-South Africa Peace, Security, and Defence Dialogue’ aimed at facilitating “a common understanding of emerging threats”.
They also reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement and the goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C.
See the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/fxa (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Bernard Denuit)