The Delegation of the European Union to the Kingdom of Lesotho is part of the extended network of Union representations abroad placed under the responsibility of the High Representative / Vice President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles with the duty to assist him in carrying out his mission of representing the Union and promoting its external policy.

The Delegation's main task is to implement the Cotonou Partnership Agreement linking the EU Member States to the African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries. The central objective of this partnership is to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty through sustainable development, the progressive integration of partner countries into the world economy and the promotion of the rule of law, democracy and human rights.

The main interlocutor for the implementation of the EU's cooperation with Lesotho is the National Authorising Officer (NAO), who is Lesotho's Minister of Finance.

The roles and responsibilities of the NAO as per Article 35 of the Cotonou Agreement (see: Consolidated text of the Cotonou Agreement) include coordination, programming, regular monitoring and reviewing of the implementation of activities under Lesotho - EU cooperation.

Under the umbrella of Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement, the Political Dialogue takes place with the objective of exchanging information, fostering mutual understanding and facilitating the establishment of agreed priorities and shared agendas. The aim is also to facilitate and strengthen cooperation within international fora and to promote and sustain a system of effective multilateralism. It focuses on specific political issues of mutual concern or of general significance at the international level. 

The EU is supporting Lesotho in its efforts to integrate into the world’s trading system so that she can benefit from the global economy. The EU is convinced that international trade is part of the path to sustained economic growth and development, and that Lesotho has an opportunity to make trade a high priority in her development strategies. The EU also believes that Lesotho can also work on improving the challenges in her economy by increasing business activity and thus, creating jobs. 

The EU signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) on 10 June 2016 with some of the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), namely, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. Lesotho is also party to the agreement. Collectively, these countries are known as the SADC EPA group. 

The SADC EPA is a development-oriented trade agreement that gives asymmetric access to the partners in the SADC EPA group, allowing participating SADC countries to shield sensitive products from full liberalisation and safeguards can be deployed when imports are growing too quickly. A detailed development chapter identifies trade-related areas that can benefit from funding. The agreement also contains a chapter on sustainable development that covers social and environmental matters. The EPAs between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and regions aim at promoting ACP-EU trade - and ultimately contribute, through trade and investment, to sustainable development and poverty reduction. 

As the SADC EPA Group's largest trading partner, the EU is working closely together with the Lesotho Government to implement the EPA and boost economic growth and create jobs with an envelope of EUR 6 million. The overall objective is to promote sustainable trade and investments for the private sector, mainstream gender into all sectors of the economy and build a desirable future for the youth of Lesotho. The EU aims to achieve these objectives by continuing to support inclusive and sustainable job creation; contributing to scaling-up private and public investments to support a more diversified, clean and competitive low-carbon economy; supporting value chain development; promoting regional trade and economic integration; enhancing trade and investment relations with Europe and holistically seizing the opportunities under the EPA.

Find out more about the top 10 benefits of these partnerships for development.

Your guide to the EU market's import rules and taxes

The European Union (EU) is the world's largest single market and the Access2Markets is your one-stop-shop to access it. Access2Markets is the new portal for EU exporters and importers to find detailed information on:

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• product requirements
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• Trade barriers
• trade statistics