SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION TO THE 13th SESSION OF THE SA- EU JOINT COOPERATION COUNCIL

The 13th session of the SA-EU JCC was held successfuly in Pretoria, South Africa on 17 July 2012. The meeting was co-chaired by the Deputy Director-General in charge of Europe from the South African Department of International Relationd and Cooperation, Ambassador Rapu Molekane, and the MD for Africa from the European External Action Service (EEAS), Mr Nick Westcott.

The Plenary received and discussed the reports of the Dialogue Forums through which SA-EU sectoral cooperation is pursued. This includes reports on cooperation on Crime and Justice, Customs, Development, Education, Employment and Social Affairs, Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, Health, Migration, Human Rights, Science and Technonology, Space, Trade, Transport and ICT. In addition, there are ongoing discussions on cooperation in Regional Development, and exchange of views on macroeconomic policy. The discussions highlighted the depth of the existing cooperation, as well as the areas that need to be strengthened. The meeting also focused on the accession of Croatia to the EU in 2013, which will have implications for the SA-EU Strategic Partnership (trade, customs revenue etc).

The next JCC will be held in Brussels, Belgium in 2013.