Commission continues work to deepen trade and investment relations with Eastern and Southern African countries

The report – published in line with the Commission’s transparency commitments – summarises the progress made during the latest negotiation round to deepen the EU's existing Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with five Eastern and Southern African partners (ESA5): Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Zimbabwe.

The 15^th negotiation round  took place at technical and Senior Officials’ level in Brussels from 3-7 March 2025.

Discussions led to the provisional conclusion of the ‘Economic and Development Cooperation’ chapter and the substantive provisions of the ‘Trade and Sustainable Development’ chapter. Good progress was made on the other chapters discussed.

The parties agreed on a workplan aimed at resolving all outstanding issues at technical level before scheduling the last and final round to allow the endorsement of the agreement at political level.

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Report of the 15^th negotiating round

EU-Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA5) EPA deepening negotiations