Pretoria trade deal faces delay

Date: 18/02/1999

By Gareth Harding

The free trade deal struck between the European Commission and South Africa last month looks set to be held up by governments unhappy about concessions made to Pretoria by EU negotiators.

After more than four years of tortuous talks, Development Commissioner João de Deus Pinheiro and South African Trade Minister Alec Erwin clinched a long-awaited €17-billion trade pact late last month, which promises to open up 95% of the EU market to South African goods and 86% of Pretoria's market to Union products within the next decade.

The agreement has since been approved by the South African government and is expected to be ratified by its parliament shortly. But some EU governments will be more difficult to win over.

Union foreign ministers are due to discuss the deal next Monday (22 February), but Council of Ministers sources say the accord is unlikely to be approved at the meeting because of opposition from Spain and several other member states.

Madrid has sharply criticised the Commission for signing up to an agreement which it believes damages Spanish industry whilst bringing few benefits.

It is upset that frozen asparagus, strawberries and orange juice have not been included among the 300 sensitive farm products kept out of the pact. It is also unhappy with the compromise reached on phasing out Pretoria's usage of the terms 'port' and 'sherry', and is holding out for the trade agreement to be linked to a future deal on opening up South Africa's resource-rich fishing waters.

Council sources say that Italy shares many of Spain's concerns and France is worried that the concessions offered to President Nelson Mandela's government will set a precedent for future trade deals with other countries.

Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are also pressing for a more binding commitment from South Africa to take back illegal immigrants caught entering the EU.

Union diplomats are desperately trying to iron out these problems ahead of next week's meeting, but sources say the atmosphere is "not encouraging" and the chances of reaching an agreement are slim.

Meanwhile, talks are taking place behind the scenes between EU representatives and their South African counterparts.

Pinheiro met Erwin in Dakar, Senegal, last week and Spanish officials accompanying King Juan Carlos on a state visit to the post-apartheid republic held meetings with their opposite numbers in Pretoria to try to settle their differences.

At a state banquet for Juan Carlos earlier this week, Mandela urged Spain to back the compromise struck with the Commission.

Madrid is also under pressure from EU governments which want the agreement wrapped up ahead of the March deadline set by heads of state and government at last December's Vienna summit.

A British diplomat said that it was "essential for the EU's credibility to get a deal" ahead of the US, which is currently negotiating a free trade pact with Pretoria.