European Union sends in heavyweight to talk trade
The Namibian | 13.09.2011
European Union sends in heavyweight to talk trade
By: JO-MARÉ DUDDY
THE European Unions’ trade commissioner, Karel De Gucht, will meet with President Hifikepunye Pohamba, key ministers, as well as the business and civil community in Windhoek today to try and inject new life into the drawn-out negotiations for an economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the two parties.
De Gucht’s visit is part of a trip to southern Africa to salvage the EPA negotiations. Tomorrow he will have talks with Rob Davies, the South African trade minister. Namibia, South Africa and Angola are the only three countries out of seven in the SADC-EPA configuration group that have not yet signed the controversial interim agreement.
The EPA is set to replace the lapsed Cot-onou Agreement, which grants Namibian beef, fish and grapes duty- and quota-free access to EU markets.
“South Africa and Namibia are key trade partners for Europe and these discussions are set to deepen these ties further,” De Gucht said in an EU statement yesterday.
“With a shared vision and a pragmatic approach, we should be able to bring these talks to a successful conclusion in the not so distant future to the benefit of all sides,” he said.
Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in 2009 inked the interim agreement with the EU in a move which threatened to split the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) at the time. Mozambique also signed the interim EPA the same year.
Namibia is refusing to sign the interim agreement, insisting that the EU guarantees amendments to the existing agreement in writing and treats the country as an equal partner.
Also hampering the signing are the unresolved matters of the Most Fa- voured Nation (MFN) and the Definition of Parties (DoF).
South-South trade could be threatened by the MFN clause, while the DoP will destabilise the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) and derail regional integration, Namibia and others fear.
