Merits and Demerits of the EU Policies Towards Associated Developing Countries: An Empirical Analysis of EU-SADC Trade and Overall Economic Relations within the Framework of the Lome Convention

The core of this publication is a profound research conducted from 1993 to 1997, and extended to cover relevant developments in 1998 and 1999. Using the Southern African Development Community (SADC) economies to proxy for the Southern African members of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) group of States which are associated with the EU through the Lome Convention (LC), the study comprehensively explicates the EU-ACP co-operation in a scientific but uncomplicated manner. It presents carefully argued cases, trying as much as possible to augment the qualitative arguments with empirical evidence. To discern the rationale and impact of EU-SADC relations within the framework of the LC, besides making a bearing on the historical aspects of these relations, the study also infers to the propelling forces of international trade and international economic linkages generally, as well as the posited associations between export performance and economic growth. In addition, it compares and contrasts the merits of the LC with factors that undermine the operational efficiency of the arrangement. Also, it proposes a range of plausible measures that should be implemented in order to enhance the efficiency of co-operation between the EU and the SADC within the framework of a revamped EU-ACP co-operation arrangement. In addition, this second revised edition is extended to cover latest developments related to the debate on post-Lome IV EU-ACP relations. Hence, it outlines also the ACP and EU negotiating mandates, and explores the key aspects of the EU-commissioned regional economic partnership agreement (REPA) studies.