Taking stock of the strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa

The report evaluates the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership, highlighting its shift from a development-focused relationship to a high-level political alliance. It details cooperation across 13 pillars, including energy, science, and climate change, while noting tensions over economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations and sanctions on Zimbabwe.

• The EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership represents a shift in the EU's external strategy to engage emerging powers and increase its global political visibility, moving beyond previous bilateral frameworks to a high-level political alliance.
• The EU is South Africa's primary trade and investment partner, accounting for 35.2% of its total trade balance with main global partners as of 2007, and is the largest source of overseas development assistance for the country.
• The partnership has established 13 pillars of discussion, with notable progress in science and technology, where South Africa is the fourth largest non-EU participant in the 6th European Framework Programme, supported by over €20 million in EU investment.
• Energy cooperation is managed through the EU-SA Energy Dialogue Forum, which has created three working groups focusing on Clean Coal Technology, Carbon Capture and Storage, and Clean and Efficient Energy, with nuclear generation as a discussed option.
• Environmental cooperation includes an SA-EC Forum on Environment and Sustainable Development established in October 2007, which includes a working group on climate change and supports the Joint Africa-EU Declaration on Climate Change.
• Significant tensions exist between the two partners regarding economic partnership agreement (EPA) negotiations and the EU's refusal to revisit sanctions against Zimbabwe.
• The partnership is designed to support the 'African Agenda' and regional integration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), including the implementation of the Joint EU-Africa Strategy.

APA

Chevallier, R. (2009). Taking stock of the strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/eu_sa_partnership.pdf

Chicago

Chevallier, Romy. Taking stock of the strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2009. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/eu_sa_partnership.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chevallier |first1=Romy |title=Taking stock of the strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=11 September 2009 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/eu_sa_partnership.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chevallier2009taking, author = {Chevallier, Romy}, title = {{Taking stock of the strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2009}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/eu_sa_partnership.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }