The European Union on Friday said Zimbabwe must implement the Lima Government Reform Agenda if it entertained any hopes of full re-engagement with the bloc.
EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Philippe Van Damme, said the Lima Reform Agreement, signed by the government of Zimbabwe in October 2015, was a good starting point for the country towards political and economic reforms.
The IMF and Zimbabwe agreed that for the Southern African country to get lines of credit, it should clear its arrears with multilateral lending institutions by the end of April 2016 as follows; IMF ($110 million), World Bank (US$1,15 billion) and AfDB ($601 million).
The country, however, has been struggling to re-pay the staggering debt within the prescribed time, with treasury grappling to pay its workers.
Van Damme said the Zimbabwe government had put forward an ambitious reform agenda which if implemented, would help the country face the challenges it was facing.
“It is a homegrown agenda and we were not involved in its formulation. It is a good starting point for dialogue .If it can work out and is effectively implemented, we are willing to help you implement these reforms,” he said.
He said the EU wanted Zimbabwe to implement economic and political reforms, which included aligning the laws of the country with the Constitution of the country.
“We can only help on condition that they clear their arrears with the financial institutions and they present a detailed time bound agenda and the state of implementation of the reforms,” he said.
The European Ambassador said the government also had to ensure that the electoral process was done in a transparent manner, adding that the bloc was also concerned with the human rights situation in the country.
Van Damme said the current assistance that the EU was extending was through United Nations agencies and civil society organisations and was directed towards specific programmes. He however, was quick to point out that the EU was not, and would not fund any organisation to effect regime change in the country.
“Of course we work with stakeholders; we work with civic society organisations which in turn engage with the government. Government knows everything and we have nothing to hide,” he said.
Van Damme said it was not wise for any individual country to claim that it can operate in isolation, saying countries should embrace globalisation.
“Anybody claiming that they can stand alone has returned to the stone age, whether it is a big country or a small country. Globalisation is not something new. If there is anybody thinking about going it alone, they should look at North Korea and see how they are surviving. We all engage through trade and exchange of ideas,” he said.
Van Damme also touched on the issue of corruption in the country, saying the scourge was undermining the country’s investment opportunities.
“What strikes me about of corruption is that many cases have been exposed but no action has been taken; nobody has been prosecuted and brought before the courts. The country’s courts Are not being respected; there is contempt of court and impunity,” he said.
The European Union has spent more than 20 million euro on Zimbabwe as the delegation while individual member states of the union have spent more than $100 million combined on various programmes. The bloc is spending between 50 and 70 million euro on drought mitigation per year since the easing of sanctions in 2014.