About the negotiations on Angola’s accession to the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and SADC

The EU-SADC EPA is a free trade agreement signed in 2016 between the European Union (EU) and six countries from the Southern African Development Community (SADC): Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. Although Angola participated in the original negotiations of the EPA, it eventually did not sign the Agreement. However, the later accession of Angola was already foreseen in the EPA.

Considering Angola’s economic situation – characterised by extremely high dependency on oil and diamond exports, and the prospect of losing some of the preferential market access to the EU as a consequence of graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status – Angola in February 2020 requested accession to the EU-SADC EPA. This requires negotiations about the conditions for accession, notably the degree of opening Angola’s market for imports from the EU. Accession negotiations are expected to be launched in the first half of 2021 and be completed within one year.

More on EU-Angola trade and the EU-SADC EPA [external link]

About the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) and this website

SIAs analyse the potential economic, social, human rights and environmental impact of trade agreements being negotiated by the EU. They are based on a robust analysis of the changes that are likely to be caused by the trade agreement in the EU, the partner country and developing countries. Equally important, they include wide-ranging consultations of stakeholders in the EU and the partner country. SIAs are undertaken independently by external consultants commissioned by the European Commission. SIA findings and recommendations feed into the negotiations, helping negotiators to optimise the related policy choices.

The SIA of Angola’s potential accession to the EU-SADC EPA is implemented by a team of researchers led by BKP Economic Advisors, a German-based economic research and consulting firm. Work started in January 2021 and is expected to be completed in October 2021. On this website we will inform you about the progress of the study, including consultations with stakeholders, as well as publish all reports produced.

Study Timeline

January 2021

Kick-off

The kick-off meeting with the Commission was held on 12 January 2021 and launched the inception phase, during which the methodology will be finalised.
March 2021

Inception report

The draft inception report will be presented to and discussed with stakeholders prior to finalisation.
April 2021

Civil society dialogue meeting

The meeting will serve to present and discuss the draft inception report.
July 2021

Workshop in Angola

The workshop in Angola will be a prime opportunity for Angolan stakeholders to provide their views on the country's accession to the EPA.
September 2021

Draft final report

The draft final report will be presented to and discussed with stakeholders prior to finalisation.
December 2021