The EU and South Africa enjoy a multi-dimensional relationship, which is at Strategic Partnership level.
 
The Strategic Partnership is founded on shared values, such as democracy, respect for human rights, rule of law and multilateralism, and promotion of peace, security, and sustainable development. Relations between South Africa and the EU are anchored by the Trade, Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA) of 1999, the Joint Action Plan (JAP) of 2007 and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) of 2016. Within the framework of the Strategic Partnership, South Africa and the EU hold high level engagements at Presidential, Ministerial and Officials’ levels. Furthermore, the Parties have established the following Structured Mechanisms: i) South Africa – EU Summit; ii) Ministerial Political Dialogue (MPD); iii) Joint Cooperation Council (JCC) at Director-General level; and iv) Inter-Parliamentary Meetings. The purpose is to develop and deepen bilateral cooperation across political, economic, technical and developmental sectors; and to promote cooperation on regional and global matters of mutual interest.
 
In terms of the TDCA and JAP, it is within the JCC that bilateral cooperation between the two Partners is developed and strengthened. The TDCA has five key areas of bilateral cooperation, namely: i) enhanced political dialogue; ii) cooperation in trade and trade-related areas; iii) economic cooperation; iv) cooperation in technical areas; and v) development cooperation. To this end, South Africa and the EU have established Dialogue Forums on several areas, including the i) Political and Security Dialogue Forum; ii) Human Rights Dialogue; iii) Trade and Investment Dialogue; iv) Dialogue on Science, Technology and Investment; v) Macro-economic Dialogue; vi) Education, Training and Skills Development; vii) Environment, Climate and Water; and viii) Development Cooperation. The Parties agreed on expanding relations into the critical raw materials value chain, renewable energy and health sectors