Regional Integration and Economic Partnership Agreements: Southern Africa at the Crossroads

Image: Flickr, Dimitar Nikolov
Image: Flickr, Dimitar Nikolov

Based on conference proceedings, this book examines the dynamics of the European Union (EU) trade policy and the implications thereof for Southern Africa.

The latter’s problems with both political and economic integration are not new, but the process of negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU presents yet more challenges. The initiation of trade talks between the EU and the members of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries has brought to center-stage Southern Africa’s problems of multiple and overlapping memberships of different regional organisations. Whereas many would argue that the EU should stand back and let the region try to solve its own regional integration problems before it engages, as a region, with external partners, others feel that the EPA process is breathing new life into the search for solutions to Southern Africa’s regional integration conundrum.

ISBN: 1-919969-59-4

The views expressed in this publication/article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA).

23 Apr 2006