Redefining relations between South Africa and the European Union

Since its first democratic elections South Africa has been involved in redefining its relations in the international arena. The isolation of apartheid South Africa left the democratic government with empty hands regarding international agreements, both in the trade and cooperation spheres. The negotiations with the European Union (EU) is one of the exercises the new government and its transforming departments saw themselves faced with. The EU is an important trade partner and has strong ties with South Africa's neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which South Africa opted to join. The negotiations have from the start been a demanding exercise. The process began in 1994 and is expected to be finalised during the course of 1998. As a way of understanding the evolving relations, the purpose of this paper is to examine the development of the negotiation process.