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MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF MONDAY, 18 APRIL 2005

(2005/C 272/01)

(The sitting opened at 11 a.m.)

Formal inaugural sitting

The following addressed the Assembly: Mr Moussa Badoulaye Traoré, Central Mayor of the District of Bamako, Mr Ibrahim Boubacar Kéita, President of the National Assembly of Mali, Mrs Sharon Hay Webster, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Mrs Glenys Kinnock, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and Mr Amadou Toumani Touré, President of the Republic of Mali, who declared the ninth session open.

(The sitting adjourned at 1.15 p.m. and resumed at 3.25 p.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: Mrs HAY WEBSTER

Co-President

Sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Co-President welcomed all the participants and informed them that on Friday 15 April 2005, in Bamako, the ACP Consultative Assembly had been set up. This important event coincided with the 30th anniversary of the ACP Group.

1.   Composition of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Co-President announced that the list of members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, as forwarded by the authorities of the ACP States and the President of the European Parliament, would be annexed to the minutes.

2.   Accreditation of non-parliamentary representatives

The Co-President announced that the authorities of the ACP States had sent a list of non-parliamentary representatives. In accordance with Article 17(1) of the Partnership Agreement and Article 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, she proposed that these representatives should be recorded and their names listed in an annex to the minutes.

The Joint Parliamentary Assembly agreed to this.

3.   Substitutes

The Co-President announced the following substitutes: Mauro (for Daul), Schröder (for Langendries), van den Berg (for Bullmann), Pistelli (for Busk), Morgantini (for Wurtz) and R. Czarnecki (for Kozlík).

4.   Adoption of draft agenda (ACP-EU/3748/rev. 2)

The Co-President announced the following deadlines:

The following spoke: De Sousa (Angola), Weldegiorgis (Eritrea), Gessesse (Ethiopia), Martínez Martínez and Davies (South Africa).

The draft agenda was adopted as shown in these minutes.

5.   Approval of the minutes of the last sitting of the 8th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (OJ C 80, 1.04.2005)

The minutes were approved.

6.   Message from Mr Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General, to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals

The Co-President read out to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly the message from Mr Kofi Annan.

7.   Report by Mrs María Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco and Mr Donald Ramotar (Guyana) on the progress made in achieving universal primary education and gender equality in the ACP countries in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), on behalf of the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment

Mrs Valenciano Martínez-Orozco introduced her report. Mr Polisi (Rwanda) spoke on behalf of Mr Ramotar (Guyana), co-rapporteur.

Mrs Herfkens, Executive Coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals Campaign of the United Nations Development Programme, reported on the progress by the ACP countries in achieving the millennium goals and expressed the hope that the European Union would adhere to the timetable. She referred explicitly to the role of Members of Parliament in this connection.

The following spoke: Straker (St Vincent and the Grenadines), Martens, Safuneituuga (Samoa), Scheele, Faure (Seychelles), Hall, Akpovi (Benin), Aubert, Metsing (Lesotho), Bowis, Davies (South Africa), van den Berg, Osei-Prempeh (Ghana), Klass, Ouaïdoung (Chad), Martínez Martínez, Sebetlela (Botswana), Gröner, Bawa Bwari (Nigeria), Fernandes, Kamuntu (Uganda), Obiang Ndong (Gabon), Herfkens and Manservisi (European Commission).

8.   Report on the activities of the economic and social partners

The following spoke: Vever and Florio (ACP-EU Follow-up Committee).

IN THE CHAIR: Mrs KINNOCK

Co-President

9.   Urgent topic 1: Situation in the Sudan

The following spoke: Hay Webster, Morgantini, Beda (Sudan), Schnellhardt, Dawaleh (Djibouti), Gomes, Gessesse (Ethiopia), Pistelli, Weldegiorgis (Eritrea), Schluyter, Kamuntu (Uganda), Goudin, Bawa Bwari (Nigeria), Czarnecki, Bowis, Carlotti, Ouaïdoung (Chad), Hall, Gahler, van den Berg, Van Hecke, Schröder, Novak and Manservisi (Commission).

The sitting closed at 7.25 p.m.

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ANNEX OF THE SITTING OF MONDAY, 18 APRIL 2005

Accreditation of non-parliamentarian delegates

BARBADOS

Ms Yvette GODDARD

Counsellor, Embassy of Barbados, Brussels

FIJI

H.E. Mr Seremaia T. CAVUILATI

Ambassador of Fiji, Brussels

HAITI

Mr Jacques Nixon MYRTHIL

Chargé d'Affaires a.i.., Embassy of Haiti, Brussels

ST KITTS AND NEVIS

H.E. Mr Georg R.E. BULLEN

Ambassador of St Kitts and Nevis, Brussels

SURINAME

H.E. Mr Gerhard O. HIWAT

Ambassador of Suriname, Brussels

ZIMBABWE

H.E. Mr Gift PUNUNGWE

Ambassador of Zimbabwe, Brussels

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