EU says SA ‘bullying’ neighbours
Times of Swaziland | July 09,2009
EU says SA ‘bullying’ neighbours
By NOMILE HLATSHWAYO
MBABANE – It seems the problems emanating from the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) are far from over, as SA and EU have started exchanging strong ‘words’.
First it was South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies who was reported to have ‘threatened’ to impose trade barriers on fellow neighbours.
This, after Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (BLS) and Mozambique signed the interim EPA last month.
This was viewed by many as an indirect move by SA to split the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), from which Swaziland and Lesotho derive a chunk (over 70 per cent) of their revenue.
SA, Angola and Namibia refused to sign the interim EPA.
SA’s Business Report ran reports yesterday on what it termed “Europe resorts to name calling” where it alleged that a top European Union (EU) envoy launched a scathing attack on SA, accusing it of becoming a ‘bully’ and ‘acting in bad faith’ in relation to its partners in SACU.
Ivan Casella, the EU’s trade negotiator for the Southern African Development Community (SADC), is reported to have said he believed SA wanted to disband SACU, as it was not in the country’s interests to continue sharing customs revenue with the region.
The report says Casella made the comments at a seminar on international trade in Brussels on Tuesday.
“We feel SA is looking to use the EPA to portray the EU as a bully, oppressing the region, when in fact SA is the bully,” he reportedly said.
Disbanding
He is quoted saying the EPA was SA’s ‘pretext for disbanding SACU, maybe because of the revenue distribution’.
The report further claims the Head of the European Commission EPA Unit, Jacques Wunenburger also echoed Casella’s views by saying; “The key issue is that SA has a low interest in SACU because it is too costly and SA has other priorities.”
The EPA is meant to replace the Cotonou Agreement with 79 African, Caribbean and pacific (ACP) countries that fell outside the World Trade Organisation rules. Countries trading under the agreement were given a seven-year grace period until 2007.
The interim EPA was first initialled in December 2007 by the three countries that eventually signed it last month.
However, the Department of Trade and Industry has described Casella’s comments as ‘unfortunate, to say the least’.
Phemelo Marishane, the Director of the department’s SACU unit, is said to have said the EPA concerns were discussed and agreed to by all SADC EPA states, some of whom were SACU members.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry Cypril Kunene was not available when contacted for comment on the issue. He was reported to be in a meeting and his cellphone rang unanswered.
Minister Jabulile Mashwama was said to be locked in a meeting at the Deputy Prime Minister’s office.
Economists contacted to shed light on the issue distanced themselves, claiming this was a political issue and that they were not privy to the EPAs and the happenings between the countries involved.
