PRESS NOTE 3 - 3rd meeting of ACP Parliamentary Assembly
Brussels, 21 February 2006
The 3rd meeting of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly, held in Brussels on 21 February 2006 under the presidency of Hon. Georges Rawiri of Gabon, was convened particularly to prepare the meetings of the Bureau and the Standing Committees of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
The issues discussed at the meeting included :
Appointment of Vice-President
The African region appointed Swaziland as ACP Vice-President in charge of finance. The Caribbean region appointed St. Lucia as ACP Vice-President in charge of contacts with the civil society.
Reports from Standing Committees
The Parliamentarians heard from the ACP Co-Chairs and Co-Rapporteurs of each Committee on the activities of their respective Committees and held an exchange of views on the issues raised.
The Parliamentarians examined the draft reports from each committee, namely:
- Committee on Political Affairs :
"The role of regional integration in the promotion of peace and security"
[ACP Co-Rapporteur: Mr. Garang Deng (Sudan)]
- Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade :
"The Problem of Energy in ACP countries"
[ACP Co-Rapporteur: Mrs Deerpalsing (Mauritius)]
- Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment :
"Fisheries and its social and environmental aspects in developing countries"
[ACP Co-Rapporteur: Mr. Joseph Sanga (Solomon Islands)]
Working Group on the prevention and management of conflicts and consolidation of peace
The Assembly heard from the Chairman of the Working Group on the Prevention and Management of Conflicts and Consolidation of Peace which held its first meeting in Brussels, on Monday 20 February 2006. The Chair mentioned the mandate given to the Working Group, particularly that of assessing and examining conflict situations in ACP States, analysing the institutional causes of the conflicts in order to recommend strategies for the maintenance of peace and stability, assessing the institutional mechanisms of ACP States and finally, acting as an early warning system to alert the ACP Parliamentary Assembly to potential problems in ACP countries and regions.
The Working Group was established at the 2nd meeting of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly held during the 10th JPA session in Edinburgh. It was created as a result of the growing concern over the proliferation of conflicts between Member States of the ACP Group and in the states themselves.
Seminar on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)
The Chair of the Working Group on EPAs informed the Assembly of a seminar on these agreements to be held in ACP House on 23 and 24 February 2006. The aim of the seminar is to enlighten ACP Parliamentarians on the nature of the EPAs and update them on the ongoing negotiations in the various ACP regions.
The seminar will address the following issues: structure and organisation of the EPA negotiations, ACP perspectives (especially the state of play of the All-ACP discussions, update on the regional negotiations, etc), European perspectives, alternatives open to non-LDC ACP States, and finally, the role of Parliamentarians during and after the negotiations.
The seminar will be conducted by Experts from the ACP Secretariat, and resource persons from the European Commission, ECDPM and APRODEV.
4th session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly
The 4th session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly will be held in Vienna, Austria, on Friday 16 June 2006.
• Georges Rawiri succeeds Sharon Hay Webster (Jamaica) as President of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly.
• The ACP Parliamentary Assembly was created in Bamako, Mali, on 15 April 2005. It defines the common positions of the ACP Parliamentarians with a view to contributing to the work of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and fostering intra-ACP parliamentary cooperation. The Assembly is made up of ACP Parliamentarians and meets four times per year before every meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly or its Standing Committees.
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