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REPORT (2023/2065(INI))

On the implementation of the EU-Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

A-9-2024-0024

Committee on International Trade · Rapporteur: Joachim Schuster

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament's resolution on the implementation of the EU-Southern African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) reviews how the agreement has worked since it was provisionally applied in 2016. It welcomes the first review process and the growth in EU-SADC trade, but finds that regional value chains, diversification and employment effects have not reached their potential. It asks the Commission and the SADC EPA States to involve civil society, address sanitary and phytosanitary trade irritants, build capacity, and support regional integration and the African Continental Free Trade Area. It calls for action on climate, food systems, gender equality, green finance, investment, raw materials and a waiver of intellectual property rules for COVID-19 vaccines. It welcomes Angola's request to join the EPA and the EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (SIFA), and asks the Commission to help Angola build capacity.

Committee position. The Committee on International Trade proposes that Parliament adopt the resolution, which welcomes the EPA review and trade growth but calls for more work on civil society involvement, regional value chains, capacity building, climate, gender, investment and raw materials.

Key points

  1. Welcomes the first review process launched in November 2021 and asks the Commission to work with SADC partners for fair, inclusive and sustainable trade.
  2. Regrets limited civil society involvement in implementing the EPA and urges SADC EPA States to engage civil society actors and set up a Domestic Advisory Group.
  3. Recognises that SADC EPA States need flexible transitional arrangements to meet trade and sustainable development requirements and other international commitments.
  4. Expects the EPA to be adapted or expanded after the review, and welcomes Angola's decarbonisation efforts and fiscal capacity building under the EU-Angola SIFA.
  5. Welcomes expanded EU-SADC trade and a SADC trade surplus, but says employment, regional cooperation and economic diversification have not reached their potential.
  6. Notes that South Africa accounts for 80% of EU trade with the SADC EPA States and that intra-SADC trade is 23% of SADC States' total trade.
  7. Calls for cooperation on infrastructure, digital trade and certification, harmonised customs and transport rules, and formalised cross-border work arrangements.
  8. Welcomes the activation of regional cumulation with Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries and says rules of origin must support the African Continental Free Trade Area.
  9. Calls on the Commission and SADC EPA States to address sanitary and phytosanitary trade irritants for poultry and citrus through agreed forums and high-level talks.
  10. Calls for more technical and financial assistance to SADC EPA States, including for implementing EU projects and international commitments.
  11. Calls for decarbonisation funding and technology transfers, climate-resilient agriculture, water management, agro-processing and early warning systems.
  12. Calls for gender equality measures, scaled-up green finance, more sustainable investment, and cooperation on critical raw materials and the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines.

Who is affected

  • SADC EPA States: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Eswatini, which implement the agreement and its tariff cuts.
  • Angola: seeks to join the EPA and has concluded an EU-Angola SIFA with the EU.
  • Civil society, business representatives and trade unions: the resolution asks for their participation in monitoring the EPA.
  • Women and young people in the SADC region: the resolution calls for better access to finance, resources and economic participation.
  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): the resolution calls for awareness of the agreement's benefits and a more SME-friendly market environment.

Figures and deadlines

  • 84.9% of EU exports to the region get duty-free and quota-free treatment under SACU.
  • 12.9% of EU exports enjoy partial liberalisation through reduced tariffs or tariff rate quotas.
  • The EU offers preferential access for 98.7% of goods from South Africa.
  • SADC EPA States agreed gradual tariff liberalisation over a period of up to 10 years.
  • Gender inequality costs sub-Saharan Africa on average 6% of the region's yearly GDP.
  • A one percent increase in gender inequality reduces a country's human development index by 0.75%.
  • Developing countries face a gap of USD 2.5 trillion in annual financing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
  • The agreed global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% is estimated to generate around USD 150 billion in additional global tax revenues annually.