The Sunday Mail
British Minister of Europe David Liddington
[UPDATED article corrected]
Lack of consensus in the European Union saw the bloc coming within days of allowing illegal sanctions on Zimbabwe to end in February 2015, documents from Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office show.
In November 2014, the EU opened channels of co-operation with Harare following the lapse of “restrictive measures” under Article 96 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, but retained sanctions on the First Family and Zimbabwe Defence Industries.
The sanctions on President Mugabe, First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe and ZDI were to lapse on February 20, 2015 and documents posted on the FCO website show there was reluctance to extend them.
However, the British political establishment scrambled to push other EU members to keep the embargo, and the FCO was furious with British Minister of Europe David Liddington for “sleeping on the job”.
An FCO report says the British government lobbied “at the highest level” – and without following its own procedures with regards to how the parliamentary scrutiny committee formulates policy positions.
Mr Liddington responded saying he did all he could to get those opposed to the sanctions to toe Britain’s line.
The FCO says, “In terms of timing, the minister (Liddington) says that discussions among member states had to await a report from EU heads of mission in Harare, which was only finalised on 10 January because of the need to take account of Zanu-PF’s party congress in December and the significant political upheaval that followed.
“There was a wide range of views held by member states; any extension of the measures required unanimous agreement, or the measures would have lapsed on 20 February; the UK worked hard to secure the best outcome for continuation of sanctions listings, including lobbying at the highest level.”
The report goes on: “The minister suggests that he is himself unhappy with the way this matter has been handled. In other circumstances, we would ask the minister to provide a more detailed explanation as to why these opportunities were not taken to keep the committee informed.
“Sometime this summer there will be a new government, and a new committee.
‘‘In the meantime, we ask the minister to initiate a ‘lessons learned’ review in his department, the purpose of which would be to ensure that the requirements of the ‘upstream’ scrutiny are embedded in all parts of the FCO.”
Mr Liddington defended himself saying: “Despite UK pressure, many member states were unable to confirm their respective positions until late January. On 4 February, the EU’s political and security committee agreed to a full 12-month roll over. Obtaining draft council documents in a timelier manner was not possible.
“While, given the time scales involved, an override was necessary and regrettably unavoidable, the minister also believes that the FCO should have sent you an explanatory memorandum earlier.”
He added, “Given the wide range of views held by member states, and the fact that any extension of the measures required unanimous agreement of all 28 member states, discussions took a number of weeks before agreement was reached.
‘‘Failure to reach a unanimous agreement would have resulted in all the measures lapsing on 20 February. The UK worked hard to secure the best outcome for continuation of sanctions listings, including lobbying at the highest level.”
The British government has been working overtime to maintain EU sanctions on Zimbabwe following Harare’s revolutionary Land Reform Programme.
EU members are warming up to Zimbabwe after realising that London’s gripe with Harare is of a bilateral nature.
In 2011, leaked United States embassy cables released by whistle blower website WikiLeaks revealed that EU members Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain were unconvinced by the legality of the bloc’s unilateral sanctions.
That same year, Germany’s then Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Albrecht Conze admitted that there were divisions in the EU.
In September 2013, Belgium called for the immediate lifting of sanctions on diamond mining companies in Marange and this saw Zimbabwe trading its diamonds on the international market.
In early 2015, a leading member of the EU Parliament, and Vice President of the European People’s Party Dr Mario David of Portugal visited Zimbabwe and called for the scrapping of sanctions.
He said: “The conclusion of this is very simple.
‘‘The perception of the people in Europe and some politicians is that the travel ban on 10 people and military firms is not affecting ordinary Zimbabweans yet that is totally wrong.
“At the end of the day, they are damaging.
‘‘That is why the notion that EU sanctions are not as damaging as those of America does not hold water. We do not care what kind of sanctions; all have to go.”
