SADC AND ESA EXPERIENCES IN NEGOTIATING EPAS WITH THE EU CONFERENCE REPORT

This conference report, prepared by Masiiwa Rusare of the Trade & Development Studies Centre (TRADES Centre), documents a regional meeting held in September 2005 in Harare, Zimbabwe. The event focused on the experiences of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) in negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU). The report details the institutional structures of the negotiations, areas of convergence and divergence between the two regional blocs and the EU, the specific interests of South Africa, and the challenges of integrating non-state actors and the poor into the trade process.

• SADC and ESA share a common approach to EPA negotiations, insisting that agreements must be sustainable, development-oriented, and preserve the Lome acquis. Both blocs emphasize the need for WTO-compatibility, flexibility, and special and differential treatment for developing countries.
• SADC and the EU have reached convergence on the need for technical meetings to focus on strengthening SADC integration and increasing exports to the EU. However, they diverge on Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT); SADC requests longer compliance time for complex EU standards, while the EU refuses to compromise on the health and safety of its citizens.
• ESA's EPA negotiations were in an internal and informal stage as of September 2005, with formal negotiations scheduled for October 2005. Priority clusters for ESA include development, agriculture, market access, and fisheries, though progress has been slowed by some member states' failure to develop national positions.
• South Africa holds a unique and complex position in SADC EPA negotiations because it already has a separate Trade and Development Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) with the EU. While it has observer status in SADC EPA talks, it fears that EPAs could detach Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland (BLNS) from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) and allow the EU to dominate policy influence in the region.
• Non-state actors (NSAs), including civil society and the private sector, are largely marginalized in the EPA negotiation process. Despite the existence of National Development Trade Policy Forums (NDTPFs), there is a lack of deep consultation with the poor, and in some countries like Zimbabwe, the relationship between government and civic bodies is too low to allow for effective participation.
• The UK's emerging position on EPAs, as outlined in the Commission for Africa, contrasts with the broader EU position by prioritizing development over forced liberalization. The UK suggests that African countries should be allowed to sequence their own trade reforms and proposes a development test for EPAs, including a potential 20-year timeframe for market opening.
• There are significant concerns that EPAs may negatively impact regional integration by forcing a reconfiguration of traditional memberships to fit EPA-compatible institutions. Furthermore, the focus on reciprocal trade and the formal sector may lead to 'jobless growth' and undermine the informal sector, which is a primary employer in countries like Zimbabwe.
• Alternatives to EPAs were discussed, including an enhanced Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), south-south cooperation, and the Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement. However, EBA is limited to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and south-south trade is hindered by the fact that commodity prices are largely determined in developed countries.

APA

Rusare, M. (2005). SADC AND ESA EXPERIENCES IN NEGOTIATING EPAS WITH THE EU CONFERENCE REPORT. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/SADC-AND-ESA-EXPERIENCES-EPAS.pdf

Chicago

Rusare, Masiiwa. SADC AND ESA EXPERIENCES IN NEGOTIATING EPAS WITH THE EU CONFERENCE REPORT. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2005. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/SADC-AND-ESA-EXPERIENCES-EPAS.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rusare |first1=Masiiwa |title=SADC AND ESA EXPERIENCES IN NEGOTIATING EPAS WITH THE EU CONFERENCE REPORT |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=September 2005 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/SADC-AND-ESA-EXPERIENCES-EPAS.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rusare2005sadc, author = {Rusare, Masiiwa}, title = {{SADC AND ESA EXPERIENCES IN NEGOTIATING EPAS WITH THE EU CONFERENCE REPORT}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2005}, month = sep, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/SADC-AND-ESA-EXPERIENCES-EPAS.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }