23-26 January EU-South Africa talks

Date: 30/01/1997

SOUTH Africa and the EU are ready to try again to resolve their huge differences and pursue talks on a cooperation agreement and eventual free trade zone. South African Ambassador to the EU Dr Elias Links and European Commission Director-General Philippe Soubestre prolonged their weekend discussion into Sunday and agreed on a programme of continuous dialogue and negotiations in the coming months. The next round will be held in Brussels in February.

PRETORIA wants the Union to rethink its approach to the trade talks. For nearly a year, Nelson Mandela's government has refused to accept the EU's position of March 1996 which would exclude some 39&percent; of South Africa's agricultural produce from free trade. Mandela wants better market access for the country's fruit and vegetables, and to give its industry a chance to grow before it must face competition from a flood of EU imports. Pretoria wants a deal under which the Union would open its markets faster than South Africa. The weekend meeting appeared to go in Pretoria's favour - negotiators issued a joint statement declaring that “both parties agreed that the EU would generally be prepared to open its market faster and more extensively for South African products than it would ask South Africa to do for Union products, taking account of both sides' sensitivities”. The statement said, however, that market opening on both sides would be consistent with World Trade Organisation rules.

THE South African delegation presented its views on a trade and development agreement. Pretoria wants the Union to include development measures in the package to help it adjust to trade liberalisation, and to take into account other southern African nations, including those linked to Pretoria through a customs union, which could be adversely affected by a bilateral deal. In their joint statement, the delegations agreed “that the regional dimension is a key consideration of these negotiations”.

WHILE the Union maintains that Pretoria will get the best deal through a bilateral accord with the EU, South Africa is still trying to win membership of the Lomé Convention, the treaty which binds the Union to 70 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. Mostly former colonies of EU nations, ACP members get free access for their products to Union markets. They also receive generous allocations of development aid. Pretoria realises it is not a candidate for ACP development aid and price stabilisation subsidies for its crops, but wants some form of associate membership of Lomé. During the talks, Pretoria said it hoped the ACP/EU Council of Ministers would be able to approve a protocol which would allow South Africa to benefit from some aspects of Lomé membership.