The EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) entered into force on 1 July 2024. This agreement is a significant step in EU trade policy, especially considering that Kenya, like most EAC members, has strong trade ties with China. Currently, Kenya’s main imports come from China (20%) and India (11%), with the EU in third place (10% of Kenya’s total imports). Securing this agreement, which includes ambitious provisions on labour rights and environmental protection, is a major achievement. According to the European Commission, it is “the most ambitious trade agreement ever signed by the EU with a developing country in terms of sustainability provisions, including climate and environmental protection, labour rights and gender equality”. Ursula von der Leyen stressed that the agreement “contains the strongest social and climate commitments of any EU trade agreement with an African country”.
For Info: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_3548