"Ideally, we would like the EPA accession process to be concluded as soon as possible, so that we can all benefit from this process without an interruption, namely from duty-free access to our market," said EU Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis this Tuesday in Brussels during a videoconference meeting with Angola.
According to the head of the European bloc, the EU fully supports Angola's request to join the EPA, noting that its integration, in all six African countries that have already joined, "would make our partnership stronger and would also promote regional integration.
South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and Essuatini are the SADC countries that are part of the EPA group.
Valdis Dombrovskis who was speaking at the opening of the 5th Angola-European Union Ministerial Meeting, by videoconference between Luanda and Brussels, as part of the Joint Path, said he was awaiting the process for the decision of the joint EPA-EU-SADC council.
The EU executive vice-president noted that the European side has already signed the membership and "is only waiting for the coordinating signature of the EPA/SADC group, the Botswana minister, as far as we know has not yet signed the decision because he is waiting for the green light from three of the six countries of the group".
"We have no reason to believe that the signature will not occur in a few weeks, but it is useful if you could contact your counterpart in the southern African region and remind her of the importance and urgency of this process," he urged the Angolan authorities.
The EU Trade Commissioner also recalled that the accession process "is lengthy, it can take up to three years" due to a series of subsequent procedural steps, including legal aspects and translation of the agreement into the official languages of the bloc.
"There are technical meetings planned for this month to discuss the timing and content of the negotiations, then we could have a first joint SADC/EU negotiation round next October," he said.
That negotiation round, he noted, "will have to be based on a proposal for access to the European Union export market Angola".
"I am confident that soon we can start this process that will lead to Angola's accession to the EPA Agreement and in fact we will make every effort to make the process run as smoothly as possible," he concluded.
The ministerial meeting also discusses the need to deepen cooperation relations between Angola and the European Union in areas of common interest, including, the development of a "solid partnership" in the areas of trade and investment.
The ministerial delegation in Luanda is headed by Angolan Foreign Minister Téte António, while the EU is headed by its high representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrel.
The Angola-European Union "Joint Path" programme was signed in July 2012 in Brussels with the aim of strengthening dialogue and cooperation between the parties.
