The eighth summit between the leaders of the EU and South Africa will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, on 13th March.

The President of the European Council, António Costa, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, will represent the EU. South Africa will be represented by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The summit is an opportunity to intensify the EU’s partnership with South Africa, which is a strategic partner for the EU in a challenging context of rising populism and geopolitical instability, - European Commission's statement reads.

South Africa is EU’s largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, and the EU is South Africa’s first trade and investment partner.

The leaders will discuss the EU-South Africa bilateral relations, focusing on how to further cooperation on trade and investment,
the green and digital transitions, security and defence, energy,
research and development, critical raw materials, skills and education.

They are also expected to tackle the most pressing global and regional issues, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East, the current escalation of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the situation in Sudan and South Sudan.

The leaders are expected to issue a joint statement at the end of the summit.

EU-South Africa relations

The EU-South Africa strategic partnership has been in place since 2007.

High-level meetings are held regularly, including over 20 different sectoral dialogues, an annual human rights dialogue, ministerial political dialogues and the joint cooperation council (JCC). 

The 16th session of the EU-South Africa JCC was held in Brussels on 15 January 2025 and the 16th the ministerial political dialogue held in Cape Town on 19 February were important steps in the preparations for the upcoming eighth EU-South Africa summit.

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