SA And EU Parliamentary Relations Set to Rise, Thanks to a Commitment Reached Between Speaker Mapisa-Nqakula and European Union Ambassador Dr Riina Kionka

Parliament, Wednesday, 17 November 2021 - The Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, and the European Union (EU) Ambassador to South Africa, Dr Riina Kionka, had a productive meeting in Cape Town today, paving the way for enhanced strategic relations going forward.

Speaker Mapisa-Nqakula and Ambassador Kionka met as part of executing a long-standing strategic partnership between the South African Parliament and the European Union (EU) Parliament to consider a range of matters of mutual interest. They agreed on a clear programme of action that includes the following:
1. Convening a meeting of the South African Parliament's executive authorities with the European Union Parliament's Commission in 2022;
2. Reactivating several projects suspended during the global crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, while endorsing the 2021 to 2027 Parliamentary Support Programme;
3. A summit to evaluate and discuss the existing programme of the Legislative Sector Support during the first quarter of 2022;
4. Hosting of a European parliamentary delegation to South Africa (SA) next year and engaging with European ambassadors more intensely in 2022;
5. Strengthening the coordination of parliamentary support services to include the Southern African Development Community-Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF); and
6. Enhancing collaboration and cooperation in various multilateral fora and engagements covering climate change and migration, among other things.

Today's meeting in Speaker Mapisa-Nqakula's office is part of ongoing strategic relations set up in line with the broader SA and EU Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement signed in 1999. It also falls with the SA EU parliaments' agreement signed in 2008 to strengthen relations, share best practices and knowledge, heighten political dialogue and strengthen constitutional oversight over the bilateral agreements between SA and EU governments.

More engagements are expected, following the devastating impact of Covid-19 which did not spare parliaments and forced a paradigm shift to virtual work spaces and a reliance on information and communication technologies to deliver on their constitutional mandates.

Issued by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo 082 370 6930