Minutes of the sitting of Monday, 16 May 2011
Date: 2011-11-10
Institutions: ACP–EU Joint Assembly
Subjects: ACP-EU Joint Assembly, European Parliament, parliamentary assembly, parliamentary debate








C_2011327EN.01000101.xml










10.11.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 327/1





MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF MONDAY, 16 MAY 2011
2011/C 327/01
Contents
Formal inaugural sitting
Sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Composition of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly
Accreditation of non-parliamentary representatives






1.

Adoption of agenda (AP100.908)









2.

Approval of the minutes of the 20th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (OJ C 126, 28 April 2011)









3.

Co-Presidents’ announcements, including decisions taken at the Bureau meeting of 15 May 2011









4.

Statement by 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 20th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly









7.

Debate with Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development – catch-the-eye









8.

Budgetary support as a means of delivering official development assistance (ODA) in ACP countries Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade Report by Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Guelaye (Mauritania) and Enrique Guerrero Salom




MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF MONDAY, 16 MAY 2011


(The sitting opened at 11.00 a.m.)



Formal inaugural sitting


The following addressed the Assembly:
David Matongo, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Louis Michel, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and Pál Schmitt, President of the Republic of Hungary.

(The sitting adjourned at 12.20 p.m. and resumed at 3.00 p.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: Louis MICHEL

Co-President



Sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly


The Co-President welcomed all the participants.


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 four requests for accreditation of non-parliamentary representatives had been received. 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 agenda (AP100.908)

The agenda was adopted as shown in these minutes.
2.   Approval of the minutes of the 20th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (OJ C 126, 28 April 2011)

The minutes were approved.
3.   Co-Presidents’ announcements, including decisions taken at the Bureau meeting of 15 May 2011

The Co-President reported on the results of the Bureau meeting of 15 May 2011.
The following decisions were taken:






a)


The standing committees would draft the following reports:






 



Committee on Political Affairs







—


Topic of the report to be decided by written procedure.














 



Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade







—


Price volatility, the functioning of global markets for agricultural products and their impact on food security in ACP countries.














 



Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment







—


The social and environmental impact of mining in the ACP countries.


















b)


The amendments to the Rules of Procedure, adopted after consultation of the Committee on Political Affairs, would be submitted to the Assembly for adoption on 18 May.










c)


A declaration on HIV/AIDS, prepared by the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment with a view to the 2011 UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in June, would be submitted to the Assembly for adoption by acclamation on 18 May.










d)


The Bureau would discuss and adopt the reports on sensitive human rights issues, such as individual cases. The Committee on Political Affairs would address more general issues in that connection.










e)


The Co-Presidents would make a press statement on the situation in Madagascar.










f)


The Co-Presidents would invite the new President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, a former JPA member, to the 22nd Session of the JPA, which would be held in Sierra Leone.










g)


The Bureau would send fact-finding missions to East Timor, Ispra (Italy), the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan (South Korea), Benin, Fiji and Côte d’Ivoire.










h)


The Bureau would send election observation missions to DRC and Zambia, provided that official invitations were received and, with regard to the European Parliament, that an EU mission travelled there.




The Co-President informed the Assembly that the Women’s Forum had met on Saturday morning. It had been co-chaired by Zita Gurmai and Mo-Mamo Karerwa and had discussed the issue of women facing the challenges of globalisation.
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: Tuesday, 17 May 2011 at noon.










—


concerning questions related to voting methods: Wednesday, 18 May 2011 at 10.00 a.m. in writing.




Co-President Matongo read a statement from the new President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou.
4.   Statement by Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development

The Commissioner made a statement.
5.   Question Time to the Commission

Altogether 33 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 1 by Filip Kaczmarek on a ten-year strategy for Africa.










 


Question No 6 by Rajeshree Kumaree Nita Deerpalsing (Mauritius) on the Commission Green Paper on EU Development Policy.










 


Question No 7 by Waven William (Seychelles) on Development Assistance.










 


Question No 9 by Gabi Zimmer on food prices and speculation.










 


Question No 16 by Christa Klaß on protecting, education and empowering vulnerable young and adolescent girls with G8/G20 development assistance initiatives.










 


Question No 17 by Michael Cashman (replaced by Françoise Castex) on gender equality and women living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.










 


Question No 21 by Catherine Bearder on Commission plans for spending and staffing of work on the social sectors in DG DEVCO.










 


Question No 24 by Françoise Castex on family planning in the context of the G8 commitments on maternal and child health.










 


Question No 25 by Jo Leinen on securing water resources in ACP States.










 


Question No 33 by Musikari Kombo (Kenya) on tuberculosis.










 


Question No 12 by David Martin on Banana Accompanying Measures.










 


Question No 13 by Linda McAvan on Cotton support regime and Policy Coherence for Development.










 


Question No 14 by Assarid Imbarcaouane (Mali) on cotton.










 


Question No 18 by Niccolò Rinaldi (replaced by Fiona Hall) on natural disasters and ACP countries.










 


Question No 19 by Horst Schnellhardt on availability of veterinary medicines and basic veterinary care in Africa.










 


Question No 27 by Norbert Neuser on Universal Energy Access.










 


Question No 28 by Fiona Hall on treatment of returned asylum seekers in DRC.










 


Question No 29 by Olle Schmidt on Cotonou agreement and Cuba.










 


Question No 30 by Teshome Toga (Ethiopia) (replaced by Tesfaye Daba) on EU’s Engagement with North and South Sudan.










 


Question No 31 by Marielle de Sarnez (replaced by Olle Schmidt) on the electoral crisis in the Central African Republic.










 


Question No 32 by Elie Hoarau on the situation in Madagascar.




The authors of questions 8, 10, 11, 15, 20 and 23 had no supplementary questions.
The authors of questions 2, 3, 4, 5, 22 and 26 were not present.
6.   Action taken by the Commission on the resolutions adopted at the 20th session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Commissioner referred to the document concerning the follow-up by the Commission to the resolutions adopted by the Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
7.   Debate with Andris Piebalgs, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development – catch-the-eye

The Commissioner made an introductory presentation on the relationship between governance, democracy and development.
Speakers: Rabindre T. Parmessar (Suriname), Olle Schmidt, Gay Mitchell, Maria da Graça Carvalho, Waven William (Seychelles), Bobbo Hamatoukour (Cameroon), Musa Hussein Naib (Eritrea) and Fatima Hajaig (South Africa).
The Commissioner responded to the questions raised by the Members.
8.   Budgetary support as a means of delivering official development assistance (ODA) in ACP countries

Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade
Report by Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Guelaye (Mauritania) and Enrique Guerrero Salom
Enrique Guerrero Salom and Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Guelaye (Mauritania) presented their report.
The Commissioner made a statement on the subject.
Speakers: Frank Engel, Françoise Castex, Waven William (Seychelles), Louis Michel, Job Yustino Ndugai (Tanzania), Robert Sturdy, Milner Tozaka (Solomon Islands), Mo-Mamo Karerwa (Burundi), Elie Hoarau, Amadou Ciré Sall (Senegal), Bobbo Hamatoukour (Cameroon), Patrice Tirolien, Michael Gahler, Emmanuel Kwasi Bandua (Ghana), Michèle Striffler, Komi Selom Klassou (Togo), Denis Polisi (Rwanda), Musikari N. Kombo (Kenya), Assarid Imbarcaouane (Mali) and Ana Rita Geremias Sithole (Mozambique).
Abdallahi Ould Guelaye (Mauritania) and Enrique Guerrero Salom, as well as Commissioner Piebalgs, wound up the debate.

(The sitting closed at 6.15 p.m.)



David MATONGO and
Louis MICHEL

Co-Presidents



Mohamed Ibn CHAMBAS and
Luis Marco AGUIRIANO NALDA

Co-Secretaries-General