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ABSTRACT
Ten years after the coming into force of the EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership, this article takes stock of this partnership. Our aim, within this special issue, is to assess the EU’s perspective on its strategic partnership with South Africa, and in particular to look at economic and development cooperation within the partnership and to what extent European expectations of closer engagement have been met. Our analysis shows that economic interests have remained central to bilateral relations and the strategic partnership, even if some potential for economic engagement has remained unexploited. At the same time, the relationship has been quite tense in recent years, as bilateral ‘affection’ at the political level has waned. The implications for the partnership are weighed.
Notes on contributors
Sven Grimm works with the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik and is also associated with the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.
Christine Hackenesch works with the German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik.
Notes
1. See the South Africa–European Union Strategic Partnership Action Plan; Council of the European Union, ‘The South Africa–European Union Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan’, 9650/07, Brussels, 15 May 2007.
2. Kganyago L, ‘The impact of the Eurozone and global financial crisis on South Africa’, speech at Lereko Metier Capital Growth Fund Investor Conference, Mount Grace, Magaliesburg, 1 March 2012, https://www.resbank.co.za/lists/speeches/attachments/337/speech_lesetja%20kganyago.pdf (accessed 24 November 2016).
3. World Bank, ‘South Africa’, http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview (accessed 19 May 2017).
4. Library of Congress, ‘English speakers’, http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/50.htm (accessed 24 November 2016).
5. Helly D, ‘The EU–South Africa strategic partnership: changing gear?’, Policy Brief 7 of the European Strategic Partnership Observatory, Brussels: Egmont, 2012, http://www.egmontinstitute.be/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/ESPO-brief-7.pdf
6. President Zuma has since been on working visits to Germany and France, but has not attended or hosted EU–Africa meetings, as listed in the Presidency's Annual Report 2015/16, http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/report-type/annual-reports (accessed 20 May 2017).
7. Interview, 23 September 2016 in Brussels.
8. EU Commission, ‘Towards and EU–South Africa Strategic Partnership’, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, COM (2006) 347 final, Brussels, 28 June 2006.
9. Economist Intelligence Unit, ‘Country Report South Africa’, London: EIU, October 2016.
10. http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_113447.pdf (accessed 20 May 2017).
11. EU Delegation (Delegation of the European Union to South Africa), Relations between South Africa and the EU, website, https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/south-africa/730/relations-between-south-africa-and-theeu_en (accessed 19 October 2016).
13. Private communication with diplomatic staff from EU member states, February 2013.
14. Interview with EU official, 23 September 2016.
15. On the EPA discussion, see Makhan D, ‘The EU's coordination dilemma: Linking trade and development in the ACP–EU economic partnership agreements and “aid for trade”’, in Gänzle S, S Grimm & D Makhan (eds) The European Union and Global Development. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
16. SACU is the oldest customs union of the world, established in 1910 between predecessor entities of today's South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland.
17. Makhan D, ‘The EU's coordination dilemma: Linking trade and development in the ACP–EU Economic Partnership Agreements and “aid for trade”’, in Gänzle S, S Grimm & D Makhan (eds) The European Union and Global Development. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, p. 99.
18. Other SADC members are negotiating with a different grouping of Southern and Eastern African states. See http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/sadc/
19. Interview with EU officials in Brussels, 23 September 2016.
20. Pashotam A & D Helly, ‘South Africa, Europa and Africa: Building bridges across barriers?’, Briefing Note 88. Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management, 2016.
21. Interview with EU officials, 23 September 2016 and 12 October 2016.
22. See: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_food-safety/dyna/enews/enews.cfm?al_id=1681 (accessed 20 May 2017).
24. Interview, 23 September 2016 in Brussels.
26. Scholvin S & P Draper,’The gateway to Africa? Geography and South Africa's role as an economic hinge joint between Africa and the world’, South African Journal of International Affairs, 19, 3, 2012, pp. 381–400.
27. EU Delegation (Delegation of the European Union to South Africa), ‘Relations between South Africa and the EU’, https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/south-africa/730/relations-between-south-africa-and-theeu_en (accessed 19 October 2016).
28. European Voice, 18 July 2013.
29. EU Delegation (Delegation of the European Union to South Africa), ‘Relations between South Africa and the EU’, https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/south-africa/730/relations-between-south-africa-and-theeu_en (accessed 19 October 2016)
30. Helly D, ‘The EU–South Africa strategic partnership: changing gear?’, Policy Brief 7 of the European Strategic Partnership Observatory, Brussels: Egmont, 2012, http://www.egmontinstitute.be/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/ESPO-brief-7.pdf
31. Bello O & R Harvey, ‘Will South Africa's Minerals Bill take the road less travelled?’ SAIIA op ed, 9 February 2015, http://www.saiia.org.za/opinion-analysis/will-south-africas-minerals-bill-take-the-road-less-travelled; Harvey R, ‘Marikana as a tipping point? The political economy of labour tensions in South Africa's mining industry and how best to resolve them’, SAIIA Occasional Paper 164, Johannesburg: South African Institute of International Affairs, 2013, http://dspace.africaportal.org/jspui/bitstream/123456789/34258/1/saia_sop_164_harvey_20131205.pdf?1; ‘S African unrest puts off foreign investors’, Financial Times, 4 October 2012; ‘Marikana strike highlights 'structural problems’ in South Africa, says Fitch’, The Telegraph, 24 August 2012.
32. Uche, E, ‘Lonrho in Africa: The unacceptable face of capitalism or the ugly face of neo-colonialism?’, Enterprise & Society, 16.2, 2015, pp. 354–80.
33. BBC, ‘South Africa's Lonmin Marikana mine clashes killed 34’, 19 August 2012, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-19292909 (accessed 19 May 2017).
34. Interview with EU official, 12 October 2016.
35. BusinessDay, 20 July 2013.
36. European Voice, 18 July 2013.
37. Ibid.
38. Pashotam A & D Helly, ‘South Africa, Europa and Africa: Building bridges across barriers?’, Briefing Note 88. Maastricht: European Centre for Development Policy Management, 2016; interview with EU official, 23 September 2016.
39. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), South Africa data website, www.oecd.org/southafrica (accessed 28 October 2016).
40. Ibid.
41. EU Delegation (Delegation of the European Union to South Africa), ‘Relations between South Africa and the EU’, https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/south-africa/730/relations-between-south-africa-and-theeu_en (accessed 19 October 2016).
42. Expert interview, 4 October, Brussels.
43. Koch S, ‘From poverty reduction to mutual interests? The debate on differentiation in EU development policy’, Development Policy Review, 33.4, 2015, pp. 479–502.
44. Herbert S, ‘The future of EU aid in middle-income countries. The case of South Africa’, ODI Working Paper, 370, London: ODI, 2013.
45. As argued for example in Collier P, ‘The bottom billion – Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it’. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
46. Kanbur R & A Sumner, ‘Poor countries or poor people? Development Assistance and the new geography of global poverty’, Journal of International Development, 24.6, 2012, pp. 686–95.
47. United Nations Development Program, ‘Human Development Report: Work for Human Development’, New York: UN, 2015.
48. World Bank, ‘GDP per capita data South Africa’, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=ZA (accessed 28 October 2016).
49. World Bank, ‘South Africa’, http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/southafrica/overview (accessed 19 May 2017).
50. Herbert S, ‘The future of EU aid in middle-income countries. The case of South Africa’, ODI Working Paper, 370, London: ODI, 2013.
51. The German Federal Government views South Africa as a ‘Global Development Partner’, see http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/EN/Aussenpolitik/Laender/Laenderinfos/01-Nodes/Suedafrika_node.html
52. Herbert S, ‘The future of EU aid in middle-income countries. The case of South Africa’, ODI Working Paper, 370, London: ODI, 2013.
53. OECD, South Africa data website, www.oecd.org/southafrica (accessed 28 October 2016).
54. Hackenesch C, ‘Good governance in EU external relations: What role for development policy in a changing international context?’, Strasbourg: European Parliament, 2016.
55. European Commission, ‘National Indicative Programme between the Republic of South Africa and the European Union for the Period 2014 to 2020’, 2015, http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/mip-southafrica-edf11-2014_en.pdf
56. Ibid.
57. Interview with EU official, 23 September, Brussels.
58. European Commission, ‘National Indicative Programme between the Republic of South Africa and the European Union for the Period 2014 to 2020’, 2015, http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/sites/devco/files/mip-southafrica-edf11-2014_en.pdf
59. Grimm S, ‘South Africa as a development partner in Africa’, European Development Cooperaton to 2020, Policy Brief No. 11. Bonn: European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, March 2011.
60. For an overview on SADPA see Besharati NA, ‘South African Development Partnership Agency (SADPA): Strategic aid or development packages for Africa?’, SAIIA Research Report 12. Johannesburg: SAIIA, August 2013.
61. Stahl AK, ‘Trilateral development cooperation between the European Union, China and Africa: What prospects for South Africa?’, CCS Discussion Paper. Stellenbosch: Centre for Chinese Studies, 2012.
62. Grimm S, ‘South Africa as a development partner in Africa’, European Development Cooperaton to 2020, Policy Brief no. 11, Bonn: European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes, March 2011.
63. Interview with EU officials, 23 September in Brussels.
64. Vickers B, ‘Towards a new aid paradigm: South Africa as African development partner’, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 25.4, 2012, pp. 535–56; Sidiropoulos E, ‘South Africa: Development, international cooperation and soft power’, in Chaturvedi S, T Fues & E Sidiropolous (eds) Development Cooperation and New Powers: New Partners or Old Patterns? London, Zed Books, 2012, pp. 232–3.
65. Flemes D & T Wojczewski, ‘Contested leadership in international relations: Power politics in South America, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa’, GIGA working paper no. 121, February 2010.
66. Fues T & J Leininger, ‘Germany and the the Heiligendamm process’, in Cooper A & A Antkiewicz (eds) Emerging Powers in Global Governance – Lessons form the Heiligendamm Process, Waterloo/Canada, CIGU-WLUP, 2008, pp. 235–67.
67. Interviews with EU and South African officials, September/October 2016.
68. Interview with EU officials and South African diplomats on 23 September 2016 and 12 October 2016.