91998E0057

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0057/98 by Alex Smith (PSE) to the Commission (29 January 1998)

Subject: Trade and cooperation agreement between the EU and South Africa

The EU is currently negotiating a trade and cooperation agreement with South Africa. The agreement will be crucial for the future of South Africa. It is therefore important to make sure that all sectors of society, and especially the more vulnerable groups, benefit from the agreement.

The biggest vulnerable group are women. How is the Commission going to make sure that the agreement, and especially its trade section, will not adversely affect women in South Africa? Will impact studies on the effects of the agreement on women be drawn up? Would the Commission be prepared to support South Africa financially if it drew up such studies?

In particular, will the Commission review the impact of EU imports on local products which are often traded in the region by small-scale women traders? Will there be an exemption for these products which provide a large number of women with an income in the informal sector?

Joint answer to Written Questions E-0057/98 and E-0058/98 given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (12 February 1998)

Gender issue is a priority in the Commission's development policy, and the South African government is committed to promote gender issues and to monitor progress in this area. There is no doubt that this will be mentioned and underlined in the text of the 'Development cooperation' and 'Cooperation in other areas' chapters of the agreement. The Commission will favour provisions promoting the role of women in the fields suggested by the Honourable Member. Therefore, the agreement will benefit women.

The negotiators do not foresee in the agreement any obligation to launch studies, but the Commission is committed to assessing the impact on women of any development programme already launched under the current European programme for reconstruction and development in South Africa (EPRD) programme, and which will be launched in the future.

The agreement will also contain provisions on the follow-up of cooperation between the Community and South African activities. Concerning development cooperation in the framework of the EPRD, the Commission holds annual consultations with the South Africa government where results and achievements of on-going programmes are reviewed, and this practice will be maintained under the future agreement. When it comes to assessing specific programmes, the Commission usually takes into account the views of the beneficiaries. Therefore, when appropriate, the assessment of the impact on women will be done with womens' representatives.