The interim report for the ex post evaluation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and six SADC countries - Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa has just been published. Consisting of two volumes - the main report provides the main findings to date, and the annexes more detailed information on bilateral trade as well as the social, environmental and human rights baselines and screening and scoping for EPA effects - it provides preliminary findings of the evaluation.
Meanwhile, the work keeps going on: We are now undertaking further research into various matters related to the overall evaluation, as well as preparing the four case studies, which address the EPA's effects on the automotive, poultry, sugar, and renewable energy sectors.
Background: Since 2016 the EU has an EPA with six partners from the Southern African Development Community (SADC): Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. Under the Agreement, the EU and the partner countries open up their goods markets for bilateral imports, to varying degrees. Liberalisation of services trade and investment may be negotiated in the future.
To analyse the economic, social, human rights (including labour rights) and environmental impacts of the EPA after several years of implementation, an evaluation study has recently been launched. Its purpose is to identify areas of strong performance, as well as opportunities to improve the implementation of the EPA. More information about the study is available from the dedicated evaluation website.