EC/South Africa agreement: trade, development and cooperation

On the basis of a compromise proposal from the Presidency, the Council held an in-depth and constructive discussion on the main elements to be included in the trade provisions of the agreement with South Africa, the eventual goal being to establish a free trade area. At the end of the meeting, it instructed the Permanent Representatives Committee to continue its work in the light of today’s discussions and to present it with an overall report to enable it to adopt the complementary negotiating directives as soon as possible with a view to concluding the negotiations with South Africa early in 1996. The negotiating directives adopted on 19 June take account of the specific nature of the economic, social and political realities in South Africa and its regional integration, and provide for the negotiation of an additional protocol to the ACP-EC Convention on the conditions for the accession of South Africa to the Convention together with a bilateral trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and South Africa. The Union’s objective is to establish a new, comprehensive and stable framework for cooperation in the long term between the EU and South Africa and to support the restructuring of its economy and the consolidation of democracy.