The Delegation of the European Union in Zambia is part of the European Union External Service and is one of the 140 Delegations around the world. The Delegation has the status of a diplomatic mission and officially represents the European Union to the Republic of Zambia and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). 

The Delegation was open in 1975, following Zambia’s signing of the first Lomé Convention. Since then, through the four subsequent Lomé Conventions and the current Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the European Union have established a very dynamic and comprehensive partnership. 

Initially, the role of the Delegation was mainly to implement development cooperation activities, in close cooperation with the Government of Zambia and the COMESA Secretariat respectively. Over the years, the mandate of the Delegation of the European Union has progressively expanded and today the main responsibilities of the Delegation can be summarized as follows: 

• Ensures the representation of the European Union to the Republic of Zambia and COMESA. 
• Ensures the follow up of bilateral relations in the areas of political, economic, trade and development cooperation. 
• Ensures the follow up of EU policies in all sectors. 
• Promotes and defends the values and interests of the EU. 
• Collaborate closely with the work of the EU Member States’ Embassies and coordinate in the fields of EU competencies. 
• Carries out Common Foreign and Security Policy demarches. 
• Reports back to Headquarters on all matters of interest for EU policies. 
• Carries out press and public diplomacy activities in pursuit of all the above. 
• Ensures the multi-annual programming of development aid and the management of development programs and projects. 

The Delegation, which works closely with Member States' Embassies in Zambia and Member States represented from outside Zambia, is fully involved in the political dialogue with Zambia and is also part of the coordination with the international partners represented in Zambia through the Cooperating Partners Group amongst other coordination mechanisms. 

Moreover, the Delegation plays an important role in economic regional integration and trade issues both on the bilateral level and on the regional level through its joint work with the COMESA Secretariat.