The European Union (EU) has dismissed as baseless the Government of Zimbabwe’s claims that the country’s economy has been paralysed by what it calls illegal sanctions imposed by the economic bloc.
Posting on its Twitter handle, the EU in Zimbabwe said the sanctions, which it calls restrictive measures, only ban European companies from doing business with the Zimbabwe Defence Industries (ZDI) and selling arms to Harare. The EU said:
The EU restrictive measures are a ban for European companies to do business with Zimbabwe Defence Industries and to sell arms to Zimbabwe. That’s all. The EU has not imposed anything else on Zimbabwe.
There is no evidence that the Zimbabwean economy is affected negatively by EU restrictive measures. There are no legal restrictions on EU investment entering Zimbabwe!
The EU further said the measures against Zimbabwe have no impact on general trade with Zimbabwe and also it stands ready to review its policies towards Zimbabwe when the southern African country shows it has the appetite to reform. The trading bloc added:
The EU restrictive measures have no impact on trade and the tariff and quota-free privileged access of goods from Zimbabwe to the EU market, granted by the Economic and Partnership Agreement (EPA) ratified in 2012.
The EU stands ready to review the whole range of its policies towards Zimbabwe at any moment to take into account the progress achieved in the country.