Minutes of the sitting of Thursday, 2 December 2010
Date: 2011-04-28
Institutions: ACP–EU Joint Assembly
Subjects: European Parliament, parliamentary debate








C_2011126EN.01000101.xml










28.4.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 126/1





MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF THURSDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2010
2011/C 126/01
Contents
Formal inaugural sitting
Sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Composition of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Accreditation of non-parliamentary representatives






1.

Adoption of draft agenda (AP100.751)









2.

Approval of the minutes of the 19th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (OJ C 193, 16 July 2010)









3.

Co-Presidents' announcements, including decisions taken at the Bureau meeting of 1 December 2010









4.

Statement by Mr Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development









5.

Question Time to the Commission









6.

Action taken by the Commission on the resolutions adopted at the 19th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly









7.

Debate with Mr Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development, on the Green Paper on the Future of Development Policy – catch-the-eye









8.

The mid-term review and the Country and Regional Strategy Papers for the 10th EDF, including the CSP for the Democratic Republic of the Congo




MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF THURSDAY, 2 DECEMBER 2010


(The sitting opened at 11.00 a.m.)



Formal inaugural sitting


The following addressed the Assembly:
H.E. Evariste Boshab, Speaker of the National Assembly, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr Louis Michel, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Mr David Matongo, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, H.E. Joseph Kabila Kabange, President, Democratic Republic of the Congo, who officially opened the 20th Session of the JPA.

(The sitting adjourned at 12.50 p.m. and resumed at 3.20 p.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: Mr MATONGO

Co-President



Sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly


The Co-President welcomed all the participants, including the representatives of civil society.


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 European Parliament, would be annexed to the minutes.


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 Cotonou Agreement and Article 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, these representatives would be recorded and their names listed in an annex to the minutes.
1.   Adoption of draft agenda (AP100.751)

The draft agenda was adopted as shown in these minutes.
Following a point of order by Mr J. Ferreira on the linguistic regime for the meeting, both Co-Presidents clarified that the Rules of Procedure of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly had been fully respected.
2.   Approval of the minutes of the 19th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (OJ C 193, 16 July 2010)

The minutes were approved.
3.   Co-Presidents’ announcements, including decisions taken at the Bureau meeting of 1 December 2010

The Co-President reported on the results of the Bureau meeting of 1 December 2010.
The following decisions were taken:






a)


The Co-Presidents would send a letter to High Representative Baroness Ashton regretting the fact that neither she, nor someone representing her, was attending the session to represent the EU Council for Question Time, and asking for this matter to be remedied for future sessions. Furthermore the letter would ask that all questions addressed to the EU Council for this Session should be answered in writing.










b)


The following reports for the standing committees for the 22nd Session were authorised:






 



Committee on Political Affairs







—


Impact of the Treaty of Lisbon on the ACP-EU Partnership (to be confirmed by the EU members of the Committee, by written procedure)














 



Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade







—


Impact of debt on development financing in ACP countries














 



Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment







—


Exclusion of persons with disabilities in developing countries










—


For the 23rd Session: Agriculture (title to be confirmed)










—


For the 24th Session: Impact of mining operations on health;


















c)


Discussions on the situation in Haiti and on the EU-AU Summit in Tripoli would be added under existing items on the plenary agenda;










d)


A fact-finding mission to Fiji and East Timor in 2011 was authorised (dates to be agreed);










e)


An election observation mission to the presidential election in Niger would be sent in March 2011, provided that an official invitation was received;










f)


The agenda for the next regional meeting in Cameroon (26-28 April 2011) would contain three main themes:






—


Regional integration and infrastructure,










—


Millennium Development Goals,










—


Environmental issues;














g)


For the subsequent JPA sessions, workshops would take place before the Bureau meeting and would be followed by three days of plenary session;










h)


The ACP Declaration on the Peaceful Co-Existence of Religions and the Phenomenon of Homosexuality and the position of the European Members of the JPA on it, would be referred to the Committee on Political Affairs for further discussion.




The Co-President informed the Assembly that the Bureau had also heard a progress report from the Working Group on Working Methods.
The Co-President announced that the deadlines were as follows:






—


concerning amendments to motions for compromise resolutions and other urgent motions for resolutions to be put to the vote: Friday 3 December 2010 at noon.










—


concerning questions related to voting methods: Saturday 4 December 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in writing.




Speakers: Baldeh (Gambia), Co-President Michel, Mugambe (Uganda), Sall (Senegal), Co-President Matongo, Malahoo Forte (Jamaica), Ndugai (Tanzania), Schmidt, Toga (Ethiopia), Assarid Imbarcaouane (Mali), Martínez Martínez, Casini, William (Seychelles), Ogwal Atim (Uganda), Kollie (Liberia), Parmessar (Suriname).
IN THE CHAIR: Mr MICHEL

Co-President

4.   Statement by Mr Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development

The Co-President welcomed the Commissioner and thanked him for his commitment to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
The Commissioner made a statement on the future of development policy.
5.   Question Time to the Commission

The Co-President introduced the subject.
Altogether 36 questions were put to the Commission.
The Commission had previously replied to the questions in writing and the Commissioner gave oral replies to the supplementary questions by the following authors:






 


Question No 2 by Mr Carlo Casini on funding for family planning NGOs.










 


Question No 3 by Mr Norbert Neuser on support to maternal and reproductive health in the MDG initiative.










 


Question No 4 by Mr Charles Goerens on the rights of persons with disabilities and the MDGs.










 


Question No 5 by Ms Françoise Castex on UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health and the G8 Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Under-Five Child Health.










 


Question No 6 by Ms Catherine Bearder on child trafficking in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghanaian cocoa industries.










 


Question No 8 by Ms Iva Zanicchi on urban water services in ACP countries.










 


Question No 9 by Mr Hans-Peter Mayer on the Water Facility.










 


Question No 20 by Mr Assarid Ag Imbaracaouane (Mali) on financial cooperation.










 


Question No 21 by Mr Patrice Tirolien on the new EUR 1 billion MDG facility.










 


Question No 22 by Mr Michael Cashman (replaced by Mr Patrice Tirolien) on EUR 1 billion EU MDG initiative.










 


Question No 19 by Mr Gay Mitchell on democratic rights.










 


Question No 23 by Mr Michael Gahler on developing a coherent single-track approach towards the African continent.










 


Question No 24 by Ms Michèle Rivasi on the allegation of vote buying by Japan at the International Whaling Commission.










 


Question No 25 by Ms Isabelle Durant on the EU-African Union Summit.










 


Question No 26 by Mr Waven William (Seychelles) on development assistance.










 


Question No 27 by Mr Joseph K. Mugambe (Uganda) on the financing of EPAs.










 


Question No 12 by Mr João Ferreira on food sovereignty and security in ACP countries.










 


Question No 13 by Ms Fiona Hall (replaced by Liam Aylward) on the EU Energy Facility and universal access to energy.










 


Question No 14 by Mr Jo Leinen on technology transfer in the fight against climate change.










 


Question No 15 by Mr Achille Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) on ways of involving parliamentary representatives in the negotiation and implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).










 


Question No 16 by Mr Enrique Guerrero Salom (replaced by Miguel Angel Martínez Martínez) on Economic Partnership Agreements, state of play and concrete proposals.










 


Question No 17 by Mr Joseph Owona Kono (Cameroon) on Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM).










 


Question No 18 by Mr Ole Christensen on trade agreements and human rights.










 


Question No 30 by Ms Anneli Jäätteenmäki (replaced by Ms Riika Manner) on protecting women in the Congo.










 


Question No 31 by Mr Jan Zahradil on the reimbursement of salary arrears to European citizens by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).










 


Question No 32 by Mr Filip Kaczmarek on restrictive measures imposed on Zimbabwe.










 


Question No 33 by Mr Olle Schmidt on legal opinion concerning Dawit Isaak.










 


Question No 34 by Ms Ana Gomes (replaced by Ms Françoise Castex) on Human rights in Angola: Cabinda trial.










 


Question No 35 by Mr Abadula Gemeda (replaced by Mr Toga) (Ethiopia) on the situation in Somalia.




The authors of questions 1, 7, 10, 11, 28, 29 and 36 were not present.
6.   Action taken by the Commission on the resolutions adopted at the 19th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Commissioner referred to the document concerning the follow-up by the Commission to the resolutions adopted in Tenerife (Spain).
IN THE CHAIR: Mr MATONGO

Co-President

7.   Debate with Mr Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development, on the Green Paper on the Future of Development Policy
 (1)
– catch-the-eye

The Commissioner introduced the subject.
Speakers: Schmidt, Klass, Malahoo Forte (Jamaica), De Keyser, J. Ferreira, William (Seychelles), Sall (Senegal) and Co-President Michel.
The Commissioner responded to the points raised by the Members.
8.   The mid-term review and the Country and Regional Strategy Papers for the 10th EDF, including the CSP for the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Minister of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Hon. Matata Ponyo, made a presentation.
Speakers: Gahler, Nedelcheva.
The Minister and the Commissioner replied to the points raised by the Members.

(The sitting closed at 7.05 p.m.)



David MATONGO and
Louis MICHEL

Co-Presidents



Mohamed Ibn CHAMBAS and
Luis Marco AGUIRIANO NALDA

Co-Secretaries-General





(1)  COM(2010) 629.