Meeting Summary
The Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, visited the Committee and outlined the importance of bilateral relations between South Africa and the Kingdom of Belgium. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his country’s support for South Africa’s recent election to a United Nations Security Council.
He spoke of the Lisbon Treaty and the effect that it had on the role of the European Parliament and the increment in powers and responsibilities that Treaty had added to the European Parliament. The relationship between Europe and Africa was important and that would go on regardless of who holds the rotating presidency or Foreign Ministry post in the European Union. The upcoming summit between the EU and African representatives slated to take place in Tripoli, Libya later in the year was something the Belgians had been rigorously preparing for as they valued their relationship with Africa. The relationship between Africa and the EU had kept pace with changes in the two continents. After the summit was finished
He spoke of the European Union and the European Commission and Belgium’s role in the two bodies. Belgium was traditionally driven to multilateralism and this explained the appointment of Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy to the post of permanent president of the European Commission. The Deputy Prime Minister also spoke of the creation of the post of European Union Foreign Affairs Minister which had recently been filled by Catherine Ashton.
The Deputy Prime Minster stated that the creation of the two posts aforementioned did not diminish the role of the rotating presidency which was rotated every six months. Going forward it was important for South Africa to have a strong and independent media free of interference or hindrance.
He stressed the importance of South Africa in Africa and the important view Belgium had of the country. In Central Africa, Belgium was focused on assisting with peace initiatives in troubled countries in the region. The stability of that region was important for the achievement of Africa’s overall development goals. Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo were countries which Belgium took a particular interest in assisting. Belgium was open to trilateral partnerships in assisting troubled countries with the problems they faced.
Members expressed their appreciation for the Belgian visit and interaction. They asked what the ratio of women to men was in the Belgian Parliament and unemployment levels in that country. They commented on the necessity of infrastructure development in dealing with Africa’s problems and expressed their displeasure at the apparent imperfect and unfair nature of certain trade agreements with the EU.
Meeting report
The Chairperson welcomed the Belgian delegation. She expressed her appreciation to the Belgian delegation for visiting Parliament after having had meetings with their international relations and cooperation counterparts. Dr Anil Sooklal, South African Ambassador to the European Union and Mr Jan Mutton the Belgium Ambassador to South Africa were also present at the meeting.
Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium
Mr Steven Vanackere, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: Kingdom of Belgium, said that he found it necessary to visit the country in order to further look at means of improving synergy between the two countries and to look at means of improving bilateral relations between them.
The Deputy Prime Minister spoke of the European Union (EU) and the European Commission (EC) and Belgium’s role in the two bodies. Belgium was traditionally driven to multilateralism and this explained the appointment of Belgian Prime Minister, Herman van Rompuy, to the post of permanent president of the European Commission. The Deputy Prime Minister also spoke of the creation of the post of European Union Foreign Affairs Minister which had recently been filled by Catherine Ashton. The Deputy Prime Minster stated that the creation of the two posts aforementioned did not diminish the role of the rotating presidency which was rotated every six months.
The Deputy Prime Minister spoke of the Lisbon Treaty and the effect that it had on the role of the European Parliament (EP) and the increment in powers and responsibilities that Treaty had added to the EP. The relationship between Europe and Africa was important and that would go on regardless of who held the rotating presidency or Foreign Ministry post in the EU.
The upcoming summit between the EU and African representatives slated to take place in Tripoli, Libya later in the year was something the Belgians had been rigorously preparing for as they valued their relationship with Africa. The relationship between Africa and the EU had kept pace with changes in the two continents. After the summit was finished and decisions had been taken, implementation would be a key area of focus. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his view that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) could play a role in insuring that implementation of policies on the ground was executed in the best way possible.
In developing relations in key areas of job creation and economic growth, governments had to look at ways of integrating the private sector. Regional organisations such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) were important in further developing countries in the region and increasing trade. Going forward it was important for South Africa to have a strong and independent media free of interference or hindrance. He stressed the importance of people interacting and participating in the work done by their governments.
Thirteen of the eighteen countries that Belgium interacted and traded with were African countries. Belgium had strong ties to Central Africa in particular but sought to widen its scope on the continent to include other countries. He stressed the importance of South Africa in Africa and the important view Belgium had of the country. In Central Africa, Belgium was focused on assisting with peace initiatives in troubled countries in the region. The stability of that region was important for the achievement of Africa’s overall development goals. Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo were countries which Belgium took a particular interest in assisting. Belgium was open to trilateral partnerships in assisting troubled countries with the problems they faced.
Discussion
Ms H Malgas (ANC) thanked the Belgians for their visit. She expressed her dissatisfaction with the economic trade agreements between South Africa and the EU and the seemingly unfair slant they had towards the Union. She asked whether there was high unemployment in Belgium.
Mr Vanackere agreed that the trade agreements were not perfect but working together in a more concerted effort the Union and South Africa could in future work to balance the trade scales. He commented that the rise of China and other developing countries and the rise in their trade relations should not blunt South Africa and the EU’s relations. There was not a lot of unemployment in Belgium but the country faced a problem of people retiring at relatively young ages as compared to other European and international countries. The country was making an effort to encourage its citizenry to work for longer and retire at a slightly mature age.
Ms L Jakobus (ANC) thanked the Belgian delegation for its visit and interaction. She commented that face to face interaction was important and valued the visit. She asked what the ratio of women to men was in the Belgian Parliament. Infrastructure development was important on the continent and the Belgians should be mindful of that in their future work.
Mr Vanackere responded that the ratio of women to men in the Belgian parliament was 35% female representation. He stressed that this was an estimate and could provide a more accurate percentage should the Committee wish to have it.
Dr G Koornhof (ANC) thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for his input and the Belgian delegation for its visit. He agreed with the Deputy Prime Minister’s view that ordinary citizens should get involved in foreign policy matters and should make an effort to better understand their respective countries foreign policies. He commented that the EU should be more sensitive to the African position on matters of trade with the Union.
Mr B Skosana (IFP) asked whether European policies on Africa were influenced by the EU policy on Africa or if they were individually formulated by each European country. He asked the Belgians for their views on Chinese policies in South Africa.
Mr Vanackere responded that European policies were mostly influenced by the EUs policies on Africa but that individual countries had points of deviances from the EU position. The Chinese policy on Africa appeared to be free of attachments and connotations but Europe was Africa’s traditional trading partner and sometimes attachments and connotations in agreements were necessary to assist a nation in staying on the right path. Development was good and a strong bloc of developing countries was necessary however, Africa should not deviate from trade with Europe based on no-strings attached funding from the Chinese.
Mr S Ngonyama (COPE) commented that the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) relations with South Africa and the continent at large was a key issue especially in the field of subsidies for HIV/AIDS. He asked what advice the Belgians could give South Africa on improving its literacy rate.
Mr Vanackere replied that South Africa was still a developing state and as such would improve its literacy rate as time went on. He said that every country had its own set of challenges and that it was impossible to prescribe a set of solutions to a country which faced different challenges from his own.
Mr T Magama (ANC) expressed his concern and anxieties over the imperfect and unfair nature of certain trade agreements with the EU.
Mr Vanackere reiterated that trade agreements were not perfect but that in future they could hopefully be improved when renegotiations on them took place.
The meeting was adjourned.
