Brussels, 14/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - Cooperation between the EU and South Africa reached a new stage at the 7th Cooperation Council that brought the two sides together in Brussels on 14 November. The two dies have been linked since 2000 through a bilateral trade, development and cooperation agreement (TDCA) and agree that this agreement should be revised in an effort to transform it into a long term strategic partnership (EUROPE 9294 and 9221).
Discussions focused on a wide range of subjects incorporating development, trade and cooperation issues, the political situation in Africa and the Middle East, questions on the multilateral agenda, such as UN reform, migration, WTO negotiations and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Finnish foreign affairs minister Erkki Tuomioja informed the press that, “We want to negotiate a strategic partnership agreement to work together on questions of common interest and obtain solutions to problems of interest to both parties. We also recognised the need to revive our negotiations on the liberalisation of the car sector”.
Dr Nkosazana Dlaminizuma, South African minister for foreign affairs said that, “in the car sector it means moving forward with the asymmetric dismantling of customs tariffs, asymmetric because the EU is more powerful than us from an economic point of view”. The minister added that “we are pleased that the TDCA has, for South Africa, been translated into an improvement at an economic and trade level, as well as in the area of science and technology and many other sectors. We are eagerly awaiting the revision of the TDCA to enlarge this agreement to new areas. We want to do more and do better. Tackling global questions like WTO negotiations is important for negotiating the economic partnership agreement between the EU and the South African development Community” (SADC)
Ms Lulama Xingwana, minister for agriculture and rural affairs in South Africa insisted on the desire of her country to encourage the EU to work towards renewed negotiations at the WTO. She stressed that, “the Doha Round is a development cycle. Africa and developing countries have to be able to benefit from it. The earlier the better for everyone”.
In a common declaration adopted at the end of the meeting, the two parties both signed in a commitment to a process that will lead to strengthening their current cooperation through the guidance of common objectives and strategic policy cooperation on regional, African and global issues, including the prevention and solving of conflicts in Africa. This strategic partnership should also help develop strong and sustainable economic cooperation and extend cooperation to social, cultural, environmental and other domains, explain the partners.
The EU and South Africa say that they agree in principle on beginning negotiations to revise their bilateral agreement on trade, development and cooperation, by taking due account of the impact that revision of the trade provisions in the TDCA would have on the ongoing negotiation for an economic partnership agreement between the EU and the SADC. The political agreement, obtained the day before at the Council of the EU, on opening these negotiations, allowed for this progress. Without setting a date for a formal opening of negotiations, the EU and South Africa agreed to progress in the exploration of specific domains that they want to develop, at the next information meeting before the eight meeting of the Cooperation Council. (am)