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The book interrogates the European Union (EU)-Zimbabwe Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations, covering trade in goods and trade-related development cooperation rules. Meanwhile, EU-Zimbabwe trade relations reflected the changing motives of the former as the dominant development partner and extreme ideological division within the Zimbabwe non-state actors as well as exposing state-stakeholder fault-lines. Notwithstanding the above, Zimbabwe signed and ratified an asymmetrical interim EPA in 2009 and 2012 respectively. However, ZANU (PF) landslide victory on 31 July 2013 altered the power balance sufficiently to trigger the process of bilateral re-engagement with the EU. Both parties significantly softened, resulting in the signing of an agreement in July 2015 to normalise bilateral relations and start cooperation. This re-engagement has the full backing of EU member states.
About the author
Dr Richard Kamidza holds BSc Economics, MA in Policy Studies and PhD in Development Studies. He authored several related publications on Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations between the European Union and configurations in eastern and southern Africa, which motivated the desire to study trade negotiations politics between the EU and Zimbabwe
