Delegation of the European Union to Botswana and SADC

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About the European Union Delegation to Botswana and SADC

11/05/2016 - 15:04
About us - structure and organisation

Delegation of the European Union to Botswana and SADC

Ambassador

 

Dear Visitor,

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the website of the EU Delegation to Botswana and SADC.

The European Union and Botswana enjoy a longstanding friendship and cooperation. Our office was opened in Gaborone in 1981. The role of the Delegation was expanded in 1991 when the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat was established in Gaborone. Over these years, the relations with our partners have grown and cover now political relations, security, development cooperation, economic and trade relations and other areas of mutual interest between the EU and Botswana as well as SADC.

Botswana, like the other member states of SADC, is a member of the Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP). Cooperation between the EU and the ACP Group of States is today governed mainly by the successor of the Lomé Convention, the Contonou Partnership Agreement, signed between the Parties in 2000, and revised in 2005 and 2010. The Agreement's main objectives are set out in Article 1: to reduce poverty, achieve sustainable development, and gradually integrate the ACP countries into the world economy. The partnership between Africa and the EU is further buttressed by the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, signed between the Parties in 2007, and which has since been updated several times on the occasion of the EU-Africa Summits, the latest one having taken place in Brussels on 2nd and 3rd April 2014. The Strategy underlines the need to achieve all Millennium Development Goals by 2015, but it also reinforces the political partnership between the parties.

The EU's Lisbon Treaty that entered into force in 2009 has given the Union several new tools to further strengthen its cooperation with our partners around the world. Notably, EU Delegations are now part of the European External Action Service (EEAS). They represent the EU in all its affairs, and they are permanent holders of local EU presidencies.

It is my hope that you will find our website useful and informative. It is a living source of information; however, I encourage you to contact the EU Delegation should you need more information or have any suggestions on how we may further improve our website.

With my very best regards,

Ambassador Jan Sadek, Head of Delegation to Botswana and SADC

What we do

The Delegation of the European Union in Botswana is part of the European Union External Action Service, and is one of 139 Delegations around the world. The Delegation has the status of a diplomatic mission and officially represents the European Union in Botswana and SADC.

The Delegation was opened in 1981 for purposes of cooperation with Botswana and in 1991 acquired a regional role with SADC. Botswana had already signed the first Lomé Convention in 1975. Since then, through the four subsequent Lomé Conventions and the current Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the EU have established a durable and dynamic partnership.

The Delegation has played a prominent role in managing EU development assistance to Botswana covering areas such as wildlife conservation, infrastructure development, micro-projects, and mining sector diversification. Botswana has, since Lomé 1, benefited from preferential trade opportunities including the Beef Protocol, and more recently, the Market Access Regulation.

The negociations for a new Agreement, the EU-SADC Economic Partnership (EPA), involving the EU and Botswana, along with Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland were concluded in 2014 and the Agreement was signed in Kasane, Botswana on 10 June 2016.

The focal area of cooperation with Botswana is now on Human Resources Development. The financial allocation made under the 10th EDF (2008 – 2013) amounts to approximately € 133 million of which the bulk channelled to the Botswana government as budget support.  A National Indicative Programme was signed for cooperation under the 11th EDF (2014 to 2020) but concrete actions have still to be programmed.  The Delegation plays an essential role in providing information on the policies and institutions of the EU. In doing so, the Delegation works closely with Member States' Embassies in Botswana and participates actively in the donor coordination with the Government of Botswana and with SADC.

Since the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1st December 2009, the Delegation has a stronger political role in addition to its trade and development roles. This includes Common Foreign and Security Policy. Moreover, the Delegation plays an important and ever growing role in regional integration and trade issues, in particular in relation to the implementation of the EU-SADC EPA.

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