Regional Seminar on the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement. Mike Humphrey September 2010

Transcription

1 Regional Seminar on the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement Mike Humphrey September 2010

2 There is an ancient Kiswahili expression that says: When Elephants Fight It Is The Grass That Suffers Most Mike Humphrey 1

3 For Swaziland the EPA Negotiations Have Been Somewhat Like A Clash Of Elephants With Swaziland Playing The Role Of The Grass The Pressure On Swaziland Began In The Period After Their Initialling Of The Interim EPA in November 2007 It Really Began To Get Serious After 4 June 2009 when Swaziland (Along With Botswana, Lesotho and Moçambique) Signed The IEPA Mike Humphrey 2

4 On The One Side The EU Was Insisting That Swaziland Must Implement The Commitments Of The IEPA And Notify Them To The WTO On The Other Side South Africa (And Namibia) Was Accusing Swaziland (With Botswana & Lesotho) Of Breaking Up SACU At This Time Swaziland s Allocation From The SACU Common Revenue Pool Was Cut From About SAR 6 Bil (2008) to SAR 2 Bil (2009) Mike Humphrey 3

5 Swaziland s National Interests Would Only Be Served If It Was Not Forced To Choose Between Access To The EU Market Or Access To The SACU Market In Order To Secure Its Access To Both These Markets It Opted (After Intensive Internal Discussions) To Become Pro-Active In Addressing The Serious Split Within The SADC EPA Configuration, While At The Same Time Addressing The Concerns Of The EU Mike Humphrey 4

6 Swaziland Started By Trying To Convince Both The Other SACU Countries And The Other SADC EPA Countries That We Could Move Forward Together It Did This By Doing The Following Presentation First At the SACU Senior Officials Meeting Of 11/2/2010, And Then At The SADC EPA Senior Officials Meeting On 12/2/2010 Mike Humphrey 5

7 February 2010

8 Need To Secure Market Access To The EU; Need To Secure BLNS Sensitivities; Need to conclude negotiations with EC on TDCA+ Market Access to SACU; Need To Maintain Their Article 67 Exemption; Need To Resolve The Outstanding Issues In The Interim EPA; and Need To Sign The Full EPA. 7

9 Resolve Outstanding issues; Ensure Alignment Of Interim EPA And TDCA; Conclude SACU EU TDCA+ Market Access Negotiations; and Sign Full EPA (with Article 67 Exemption and Aligned TDCA and EPA Annex 3 + RoO). 8

10 Need To Align Interim EPA Annex 3 And RoO With TDCA To Ensure Integrity Of SACU External Tariff; Need To Conclude Their Negotiations For TDCA+ Market Access To EU, And SACU Negotiations For TDCA + EU Access To SACU; and Need To EITHER Sign Full EPA OR Align Revised TDCA With Annex 3 And RoO Of Full EPA. 9

11 Align Interim EPA Annex 3 And RoO With TDCA To Ensure Integrity Of SACU External Tariff; Conclude Negotiations For TDCA+ Market Access To EU, And SACU Negotiations For TDCA + EU Access To SACU; and EITHER Sign Full EPA OR Align Revised TDCA With Annex 3 And RoO Of Full EPA. 10

12 Need To Secure The Market Access Gains Made In Signing The Interim EPA And Ensure Cumulation With South Africa; BLS need to conclude negotiations with EC on TDCA+ Market Access to SACU; Need To Conclude The Negotiations On Services And Investment; And Need To Resolve The Outstanding Issues In The Interim EPA In Order To Finalise The Full EPA. 11

13 o Notify IEPA; o BLS To Ensure Alignment Of Interim EPA And TDCA; o Conclude Services And Investment Negotiations; o Resolve The Outstanding Issues; o BLS To Conclude SACU EU TDCA+ Market Access Negotiations; and o Sign The Full EPA. 12

14 Need To Decide If Their Interests Are Best Served By: o The Full EPA (outstanding issues resolved, development aspects concluded); OR o Everything But Arms. 13

15 EITHER: o Make WTO Compliant Market Access Offer To EU; and o Sign The Full EPA OR: o Continue With EBA. 14

16 REGIONAL CONVERGENCE 15

17 The SADC EPA Senior Officials Decided To Adopt This Swaziland Initiative As The Basis For The Way Forward With The EPA Negotiations However, They Decided That The 4 Countries That Signed The IEPA Would Move Together With Namibia (And SA?) Towards Concluding The Legal Text Of An Inclusive EPA By The End Of 2010 The 4 countries Negotiating Investment and Services With The EU Would Continue Until 2014 Mike Humphrey 16

18 Each Of The SADC EPA Countries Requested Further Internal Discussions On This New Initiative For Swaziland This Required A New Negotiating Mandate. So, Together With The Minister Of Commerce Industry And Trade, A Presentation Was Made To The Minister Of Finance, And A Subsequent Request To The Cabinet For A New Mandate Was Made And Granted Mike Humphrey 17

19 At A Subsequent SACU Ministers Meeting Each Country Was Requested To Make A Cost Benefit Analysis Of The EU and SACU Markets And Present The Results To The Next SACU SOM These Presentations Were Subsequently Made By Each Country At The SACU SO Retreat on 15 June 2010 In Order To Ensure That The Momentum Of The Earlier Swaziland Initiative Continued, Swaziland s Presentation Went Beyond What Was Requested. This Presentation Was As Follows: Mike Humphrey 18

20 SACU Senior Officials June 2010

21 International Trade Department 20

22 We believe: i. Due to our narrow range of export products it is essential that we have as diversified a range of markets as possible ii. Abandoning either of these 2 markets would have major revenue, employment, economic, competitiveness and social consequences for Swaziland and our region. International Trade Department 21

23 Come up with a coherent and viable solution that both ensures the integrity of SACU, and secures Swaziland s market access to EU Ensure that this is fully supported by our SACU and SADC EPA partners Ensure that the EU buys in by presenting them with a coherent strategy, supported by all of us, with a clear time frame International Trade Department 22

24 International Trade Department 23

25 SACU SO Agreed That The Final Slide Should Be Presented To The Other SADC EPA Countries As The Basis Of The Way Forward For The EPA Negotiations At the SADC EPA SO Meeting on 17 June The Swaziland Slide Was Modified And This New Version Was Presented To SADC EPA Ministers On 18 June 2010 Mike Humphrey 24

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27 The SADC EPA Ministers Accepted This Slide As The Basis For A United Approach To The EPA Negotiations The Co-Ordinator Of The Group (The Botswana Minister Of Trade) Was Mandated To Request a Meeting With The EU Trade Commissioner To Present This Proposal To Him. This Meeting Will Take Place In The Next Few Weeks SADC EPA SO Were Also Mandated To Present This Strategy At The Next Joint EPA SO Meeting. This Was Presented To The EC In Brussels At The Joint Meeting Of 27 July 2010 Mike Humphrey 26

28 Obrigado