South African Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma will on Wednesday depart for Bordeaux, ahead of President Thabo Mbeki for the inaugural summit.
A high-level South African delegation led by President Mbeki will also include Ministers Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Mandisi Mpahlwa and Mosibudi Mangena.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs, this first summit of the SA-EU Troika will be held in the context of the ongoing political dialogue (the Mogobagoba Dialogue) under the auspices of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership and the SA-EU Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA).
“It will be the first regular summit since the establishment of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership in May 2007 and is a continuation of discussions that have already taken place during six SA-EU Ministerial Troika meetings since November 2004,” the department said on Tuesday.
Issues on the agenda of discussions are expected to include:
· Progress on the implementation of the SA-EU Strategic partnership;
· SADC-EU Economic Partnership Agreements;
· Africa-EU Joint Action Plan;
· Environment and Climate change;
· Migration;
· Food Security;
· WTO/Doha Development Round; and
· African and global security issues.
The summit will be preceded by the 7th SA-EU Ministerial Troika meeting on Friday morning.
The SA delegation to the Ministerial Troika will be led by Minister Dlamini Zuma, who will be supported by her counterparts from the Departments of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Science and Technology and Trade and Industry.
The EU Troika delegation will be led by the French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, and will include Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development.
The Ministerial Troika will discuss the implementation of the SA-EU Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan and future areas of cooperation.
Following the visit of President Mbeki to the EU in November 2004, there was a reappraisal in the European Commission of relations with South Africa.
The Commission felt that SA-EU relations needed to be elevated beyond the framework provided for in the SA-EU TDCA into a substantive strategic partnership along the lines of those the EU has with countries like India and China.
This resulted in informal discussions between the South African Mission in Brussels and the European Commission (EC) about the developing nature of the SA-EU relationship, which eventually led to the matter being raised at the November 2005 SA-EU Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting.
The JCC accepted a Joint Report mandating that “...[N]ew steps need to be taken to ensure that South Africa - EU relations develop into a truly strategic partnership....”
The EU is the world's largest trading bloc and generates about 30% of global GDP and 20% of global trade flows.
It is the world's biggest aid donor to poor countries, contributing approximately half of global aid.
Implementation of the TDCA's trade provisions has been under way since 2000 with the aim of establishing a Free Trade Area (FTA) between South Africa and the EU by 2012.
Total trade has increased over five-fold, from R56.5 billion in 1994 to R313 billion in 2007.
In 2007 South Africa's exports to the EU amounted to R137 billion. The EU ranked as South Africa's number one exporting region for 2007.
South Africa's total imports from the EU amounted to R 176 billion in 2007, also ranking number one.
Europe remains the principal source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Africa, accounting for around 80% of total FDI in 2005.
Article published courtesy of BuaNews
