The Political Dialogue held once a year, is provided for under Article 8 of the Cotonou Agreement to review all specific political issues of mutual concern including developments on the respect of human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance.

Overall, the main task of the Delegation of the European Union to Eswatini is to implement the Cotonou Partnership Agreement linking the EU Member States to the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries including Eswatini. The central objective of this partnership is to help Eswatini reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty through sustainable development, progressive integration into the world economy and the promotion of the rule of law, democracy, human rights and good governance. 

Eswatini, as a signatory to both the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) benefits from the EU regional indicative programme for Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, and the Indian Ocean (EA-SA-IO) an envelope dedicated to SADC and the COMESA Member States. Eswatini also ratified the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in 2016.

The EU Delegation supports Eswatini’s vision of a private sector-led economy through two programmes: the "Support to Job Creation and the Investment Climate" (5M€) and the "Implementation of the European Partnership Agreement (EPA)" (6M€) programmes. These programmes’ goal is to support Private Sector development, with a special focus on the development of agro-industries. Support will aim to facilitate private sector investment in this sector to innovate, diversify, add value, explore the export markets, and exploit the opportunities provided by the SADC-EPA and the integration in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), whilst integrating digital strategies and environmental stability. Furthermore, both these actions will improve the Public-Private Dialogue through the support to the implementation of a State Business Relations Secretariat, one of the objectives of the Government’s Strategic Roadmap. By improving this Dialogue, the country will take better advantage of the opportunities presented by the EPA as well as support Public-Private Partnerships in selected value chains such as horticulture and livestock.

The European Union contributes to the protection of human rights, good governance, rule of law and gender equality through its cooperation with the Government and the civil society of Eswatini.

Projects have been funded under the 11^th EDF (European Development Fund), the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and the Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities (SCO-LA) project. Between 2014 and 2020 the EU allocated around 9M€ to strengthen the civil society in Eswatini particularly in tackling human rights issues such as gender discrimination and gender-based violence.

The Delegation’s activities concerning social protection have been carried out under the programme "Technical assistance for the Development of a Social Protection". The programme contributed to the strengthening of the institutional capacity, regulatory and oversight functions of the Government as well as to ensure that the Social Protection provision is more efficient, sustainable, and accountable.

The EU supports sustainable agriculture, food security and investments into renewable energy through various projects. Between 2014 and 2020 with around 50M€, the Delegation promoted environmentally sound agricultural practices and contributed to the eradication of food insecurity and to sustainable economic growth.

Through a series of programs in the agricultural sector, the EU is contributing to poverty reduction in Eswatini by creating economic opportunities for smallholder farmers, women and youth. Those programs tackle food insecurity while supporting economic growth by enhancing the availability of water throughout the year in a context of very limited access to irrigation. The EU is also looking at expanding renewable energy in the country especially to help reduce the costs for smallholder farmers.

The European Union has been at the forefront of the efforts to address the health crisis in Eswatini due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic constitutes an unprecedented challenge with very severe socio-economic consequences that especially affect developing countries such as Eswatini.

The EU Delegation to Eswatini through various projects and initiatives has partnered with government institutions and civil society organizations to tackle the short, medium and long-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis in the Kingdom. This included support to fight against food insecurity and malnutrition, to protect the vulnerable population such as women, children,  disabled people and support for economic growth and the fight against unemployment.