The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Kenya and the European Union (EU) has gone into effect on 1 July, 2024.

Signed on 18 December 2023, the EPA will boost bilateral trade in goods and investment flows and contribute to sustainable economic growth. It is accompanied by trade-related development cooperation to support economic growth and job creation.

The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and Kenya was explicitly integrated as a key deliverable of the EU-Kenya Strategic dialogue, launched in June 2021. It is a crucial component of our Africa engagement strategy. It represents a significant development, considering Kenya’s economic and political importance in the East African region.

The EU-Kenya EPA aims to implement the provisions of the EU-East African Community (EAC) EPA that was concluded in 2014, which is open for other EAC countries to join. This process is based on a decision of the East African Community from 2021 to let individual EAC member states go ahead under the principle of “variable geometry”.

The application of the EU’s regional agreement with EAC has been blocked since 2016, when Kenya, Rwanda and the EU’s Member States signed the agreement, but not the other EAC partner countries. Other EAC countries are welcome to join the EU-Kenya agreement.

The Kenya-EU EPA’s full potential will be unlocked when more EAC countries join and endorse the agreement. The agreement includes, for example, strong and binding provisions on labour standards, climate change and biodiversity, and gender equality.

Furthermore, it prevents both parties from lowering labour and environmental standards to attract trade or investment. These commitments are binding and enforceable. Therefore, this agreement has a high transformative potential.