Minutes of the sitting of Wednesday 18 May 2011
Date: 2011-11-10
Institutions: ACP–EU Joint Assembly
Subjects: ACP-EU Joint Assembly, European Parliament, parliamentary assembly, parliamentary debate








C_2011327EN.01000801.xml










10.11.2011   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 327/8





MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 2011
2011/C 327/03
Contents






1.

Approval of the minutes of Monday, 16 May 2011, and Tuesday, 17 May 2011









2.

Urgent Topic No 2: The democratic upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East: consequences for the ACP countries, for Europe and for the world









3.

Statement by János Martonyi, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Hungary), President-in-Office of the EU Council









4.

Question Time to the EU Council









5.

Debate with the EU Council – catch-the-eye









6.

Report on the 6th Regional Meeting (Central Africa) held in Cameroon from 28 to 29 April 2011









7.

Summary Reports from the Workshops









8.

Report of the European Economic and Social Committee









9.

Vote on the motions for resolution included in the reports submitted by the three standing committees









10.

Vote on the urgent motions for resolution









11.

Vote on amendments to the JPA Rules of Procedure









12.

Vote on declarations









13.

Other business









14.

Date and place of the 22nd Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly









Annex I

Alphabetical list of members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly









Annex II

Record of attendance at the 21st session from 16 to 18 May 2011 in Budapest (Hungary)









Annex III

Accreditation of non-parliamentary delegates









Annex IV

Texts adopted









—

Resolution on challenges for the future of democracy and respecting constitutional order in ACP and EU Countries (ACP-EU/100.919/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on budgetary support as a means of delivering official development assistance (ODA) in ACP countries (ACP-EU/100.900/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on water pollution (ACP-EU/100.915/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire (ACP-EU/100.957/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on the democratic upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East: consequences for the ACP countries, for Europe and for the world (ACP-EU/100.958/11/fin.)









—

Declaration on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, 2011









—

Declaration on Uniting for Universal Access in view of the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS in June









—

Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly submitted by the Bureau in accordance with Article 34 of the Rules of Procedure




MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF WEDNESDAY, 18 MAY 2011


(The sitting opened at 9.00 a.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: David MATONGO

Co-President

1.   Approval of the minutes of Monday, 16 May 2011, and Tuesday, 17 May 2011

The minutes were approved.
2.   Urgent Topic No 2: The democratic upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East: consequences for the ACP countries, for Europe and for the world

Michael Mathiessen (EEAS) and Domenico Rosa (European Commission) introduced the debate.
Speakers: Mariya Nedelcheva, Christophe Lutundula (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Françoise Castex, Olle Schmidt, Piet Van der Walt (Namibia), François Alfonsi, Douglas Slater (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), James Nicholson, Waven William (Seychelles), Elie Hoarau, Mo-Mamo Karerwa (Burundi), Oreste Rossi, Amadou Ciré Sall (Senegal), Maria Da Graça Carvalho, Enrique Guerrero Salom, Glen Noel (Grenada), Edit Bauer, Netty Baldeh (Gambia), Zita Gurmai, Bobbo Hamatoukour (Cameroon), Donald Ramotar (Guyana), Assarid Imbarcaouane (Mali), Michael Mathiessen (EEAS) and Domenico Rosa (European Commission).
3.   Statement by János Martonyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs (Hungary), President-in-Office of the EU Council

János Martonyi addressed the Assembly.
4.   Question Time to the EU Council

János Martonyi responded to the following questions:






 


Question No 10 by Ibrahim Bundu (Sierra Leone) on additional resources resulting from the mid-term review of the 10th EDF.










 


Question No 11 by Waven William (Seychelles) on the European Development Fund.










 


Question No 13 by Ole Christensen on Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPAs).










 


Question No 14 by David Martin on Definition of Spirit Drinks Regulation (110/2008).










 


Question No 15 by Gabriele Zimmer on Coherence between IFI’s policies and S&D treatment granted by WTO.










 


Question No 17 by Patrice Tirolien on Common agricultural policy and consistency of development policies.










 


Question No 18 by Elie Hoarau on the Indian Ocean EPA mandate.










 


Question No 27 by Marielle de Sarnez (replaced by Olle Schmidt) on Common agricultural policy and consistency of development policies.










 


Question No 8 by Tesfaye Daba (Ethiopia) on the EEAS and the Future of EU-ACP Partnership.










 


Question No 9 by Assarid Imbarcaouane (Mali) on the future of the Cotonou Agreement.










 


Question No 12 by Michael Cashman (replaced by Patrice Tirolien) on EU Commitment to 0,7 % of GNI as ODA by 2015.










 


Question No 16 by Niccolò Rinaldi (replaced by Catherine Bearder) on Food security and Agro fuels.










 


Question No 19 by Filip Kaczmarek on the refugees in EU countries.










 


Question No 20 and Question No 21 were not responded to as the authors were not present.










 


Question No 22 by Horst Schnellhardt on the ratification and implementation of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.










 


Question No 23 by Zita Gurmai on the implementation of the EU Gender Action Plan 2010-2015.










 


Question No 24 by Rajeshree Kumaree Nita Deerpalsing (Mauritius) on Piracy in the Indian Ocean and the Need for a Comprehensive Regional Maritime Security Programme.










 


Question No 25 by Fiona Hall on Nuclear safety.










 


Question No 26 by Jo Leinen on Climate negotiations in Durban.




5.   Debate with the EU Council – catch-the-eye

Speakers: Olle Schmidt, Amadou Ciré Sall (Senegal), Rajeshree Kumaree Nita Deerpalsing (Mauritius), Komi Selom Klassou (Togo), Patrice Tirolien, Piet Van der Walt (Namibia), Tesfaye Daba (Ethiopia), Netty Baldeh (Gambia), Diomandé Gbaou (Côte d’Ivoire).
János Martonyi responded to the questions.
6.   Report on the 6th Regional Meeting (Central Africa) held in Cameroon from 28 to 29 April 2011

The Co-President gave an oral report of the meeting.
Speakers: Louis Michel, Bobbo Hamatoukour (Cameroon), Catherine Bearder, Olebile Gaborone (Botswana) and Boris Mbuku Laka (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
7.   Summary reports from the workshops

The Rapporteurs presented their reports on the three workshops:
Rabindre Parmessar (Suriname): 

Climate change effects on the agricultural environment - Visit to the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Anna Záborská: 

Comprehensive conductive educational programme, the Pető-method - Visit to the Pető Institute of Conductive Education and College for Conductor Training

Komi Selom Klassou (Togo): 

Innovation for Development: Hungarian Cost-effective and Sustainable Solutions for Agriculture, Water Management and Energy

8.   Report of the Economic and Social Committee

Brenda King, Chair of the ACP Follow-up Committee of the European Economic and Social Committee, made a presentation.

(The sitting adjourned at 12.25 p.m. and resumed at 3.00 p.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: Louis MICHEL

Co-President

9.   Vote on the motions for resolution included in the reports submitted by the three standing committees

The Co-President reminded the Assembly of the voting procedures.






—


Challenges for the future of democracy and respecting constitutional order in ACP and EU countries
Report by François Ibovi (Republic of Congo) and Olle Schmidt
Committee on Political Affairs (ACP-EU/100.919/11/fin.)
Amendments adopted: 1, 4 and oral amendment to paragraph 26.
Amendments rejected: 2, 3 and oral amendment to paragraph 40.
The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously.










—


Budgetary support as a means of delivering Official Development Assistance (ODA) in ACP countries
Report by Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Guelaye (Mauritania) and Enrique Guerrero Salom
Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade (ACP-EU/100.900/11/fin.)
Amendments adopted: 1, oral amendment to paragraph 2, amendment 4 (with oral amendment), amendment 5 (with oral amendment), amendment 6 (with oral amendment).
Amendments withdrawn: 2 and 3.
The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously.










—


Water pollution
Report by Bobbo Hamatoukour (Cameroon) and Christa Klaß
Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment (ACP-UE/100.915/11/fin.)
Amendment 1 was adopted.
The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously.




10.   Vote on the urgent motions for resolution







—


Urgent motion for a resolution on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire (ACP-EU/100.957/11/fin.)
No amendments were tabled.
The resolution was adopted unanimously.










—


Urgent motion for a resolution on the democratic upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East: consequences for the ACP countries, for Europe and for the world (ACP-EU/100.958/11/fin.)
Amendments adopted: 1, oral amendment to paragraph 9, first part of paragraph 10, oral amendment to citation 12, oral amendment to the last citation.
Amendments rejected: 2, 3, 4, second and third parts of paragraph 10.
The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously.




11.   Vote on amendments to the JPA Rules of Procedure (AP.100.938/A/fin.)

Amendment adopted: first part of amendment 17.
Amendment rejected: second part of amendment 17.
Thus amended, the amendments to the JPA Rules of Procedure submitted by the Bureau in accordance with Article 34 of the Rules of Procedure were adopted.
12.   Vote on declarations







—


Declaration on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, 2011
Adopted by acclamation.










—


Declaration: Uniting for Universal Access in view of the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS in June
Adopted by acclamation.
Robert Sturdy expressed his disagreement with paragraph 6 of the declaration: Uniting for Universal Access in view of the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS in June.




13.   Other business

The following spoke: Netty Baldeh (Gambia), Gay Mitchell, Amadou Ciré Sall (Senegal) and Zita Gurmai.
14.   Date and place of the 22nd Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Co-President thanked the Hungarian authorities for their hospitality and excellent organisation and the co-secretariat and all the staff for their work.
The 22nd Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly would be held in Freetown (Sierra Leone) from 21 to 23 November 2011.

(The sitting closed at 3.30 p.m.)



David MATONGO and
Louis MICHEL

Co-Presidents



Mohamed Ibn CHAMBAS and
Luis Marco AGUIRIANO NALDA

Co-Secretaries-General





ANNEX I

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY








ACP Representatives




EP Representatives





MATONGO (ZAMBIA), Co-President


MICHEL, Co-President




BOTSWANA (VP)


ARIF (VP)




BURUNDI (VP)


ŠŤASTNÝ (VP)




CAMEROON (VP)


HOARAU (VP)




CONGO (Republic of the) (VP)


KLAß (VP)




COOK ISLANDS (VP)


NICHOLSON (VP)




GUYANA (VP)


McAVAN (VP)




JAMAICA (VP)


RONZULLI (VP)




LESOTHO (VP)


GOERENS (VP)




LIBERIA (VP)


SPERONI (VP)




MALI (VP)


ROITHOVÁ (VP)




TANZANIA (VP)


OUZKÝ (VP)




TUVALU (VP)


RIVASI (VP)




ANGOLA


ALFONSI




ANTIGUA & BARBUDA


ALVES




BAHAMAS


BAUER




BARBADOS


BEARDER




BELIZE


BOVÉ




BENIN


BULLMANN




BURKINA FASO


CALLANAN




CAPE VERDE


CARVALHO




CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC


CASA




CHAD


CASINI




COMOROS


CASPARY




CONGO (Democratic Republic of the)


CASTEX




CÔTE D’IVOIRE


CHRISTENSEN




DJIBOUTI


COELHO




DOMINICA


DE KEYSER




DOMINICAN REPUBLIC


DELVAUX




EQUATORIAL GUINEA


DE MITA




ERITREA


DE SARNEZ




ETHIOPIA


DURANT




FIJI


ENGEL




GABON


ESTARÀS FERRAGUT




GAMBIA


FERREIRA, Elisa




GHANA


FERREIRA, João




GRENADA


FORD




GUINEA


GAHLER




GUINEA-BISSAU


GRIESBECK




HAITI


GUERRERO SALOM




KENYA


HALL




KIRIBATI


HÄNDEL




MADAGASCAR


HANNAN




MALAWI


HAUG




MARSHALL ISLANDS (Republic of the)


JADOT




MAURITANIA


JENSEN




MAURITIUS


JOLY




MICRONESIA (Federated States of)


KACZMAREK




MOZAMBIQUE


KORHOLA




NAMIBIA


KUHN




NAURU (Republic of)


LEGUTKO




NIGER


LE PEN




NIGERIA


LÓPEZ AGUILAR




NIUE


McMILLAN-SCOTT




PALAU


MANDERS




PAPUA NEW GUINEA


MARTIN




RWANDA


MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ




SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS


MATO ADROVER




SAINT LUCIA


MAYER




SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES


MITCHELL




SAMOA


MOREIRA




SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE


NEDELCHEVA




SENEGAL


NEUSER




SEYCHELLES


ROSSI




SIERRA LEONE


SCHLYTER




SOLOMON ISLANDS


SCHMIDT




SOMALIA


SCHNELLHARDT




SOUTH AFRICA


SCICLUNA




SUDAN


SCOTTÀ




SURINAME


SENYSZYN




SWAZILAND


STRIFFLER




TIMOR-LESTE


STURDY




TOGO


TIROLIEN




TONGA


TOIA




TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO


VLASÁK




UGANDA


WIELAND




VANUATU


ZANICCHI




ZIMBABWE


ZIMMER





COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL AFFAIRS








ACP Members




EP Members





JEAN MARIE, SAINT LUCIA, Co-Chair


CASA, Co-Chair




TAMAPUA (SAMOA), VC


KORHOLA, VC




BENIN, VC


CASTEX, VC




ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA


ALFONSI




CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC


CALLANAN




IBOVI (CONGO, Republic of the)


CASINI




GBAOU (CÔTE D’IVOIRE)


DE KEYSER




ABDI SAID (DJIBOUTI)


DURANT




DABA (ETHIOPIA)


FERREIRA, Elisa




KUBUABOLA (FIJI)


GAHLER




ROGOMBE (GABON)


GRIESBECK




PEREIRA (GUINEA-BISSAU)


HANNAN




RAMOTAR (GUYANA)


HÄNDEL




HAITI


KACZMAREK




LEBAJOA (LESOTHO)


LE PEN




KOLLIE (LIBERIA)


MANDERS




SERAMILA (MADAGASCAR)


MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ




MALI


MOREIRA




VAN DER WALT (NAMIBIA)


NEDELCHEVA




NAURU


NICHOLSON




NIUE


ROITHOVÁ




PAPUA NEW GUINEA


SCOTTÀ




MUSA (SUDAN)


SCHMIDT




PARMESSAR (SURINAME)


SPERONI




KLASSOU (TOGO)


STRIFFLER




HLONGWANE (ZIMBABWE)


WIELAND





COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FINANCE AND TRADE








ACP Members




EP Members





KUTEKALA KAAWA (CONGO, Democratic Republic of the), Co-Chair


CARVALHO, Co-Chair




MUGAMBE (UGANDA), VC


LEGUTKO, VC




BUNDU (SIERRA LEONE), VC


ALVES, VC




CARVALHO (ANGOLA)


ARIF




BAHAMAS


BOVÉ




BELIZE


BULLMANN




COOK ISLANDS


CASPARY




EQUATORIAL GUINEA


ENGEL




NAIB (ERITREA)


FORD




BANDUA (GHANA)


GOERENS




MAIR (JAMAICA)


GUERRERO SALOM




AIPIRA (MALAWI)


HOARAU




OULD GUELAYE (MAURITANIA)


JENSEN




DEERPALSING (MAURITIUS)


KUHN




NIGERIA


MARTIN




PALAU


MATO ADROVER




POLISI (RWANDA)


MAYER




SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS


McMILLAN-SCOTT




SLATER (SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES)


MICHEL




SÃO TOMÉ AND PRÍNCIPE


MITCHELL




SALL (SENEGAL)


SCHLYTER




WILLIAM (SEYCHELLES)


ŠŤASTNÝ




HAJAIG (SOUTH AFRICA)


SCICLUNA




VAIPULU (TONGA)


STURDY




ITALELI (TUVALU)


TIROLIEN




SIKOFA (ZAMBIA)


ZANICCHI





COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND THE ENVIRONMENT








ACP Members




EP Members





SITHOLE (MOZAMBIQUE), Co-Chair


RIVASI, Co-Chair




KOMBO (KENYA), VC


BAUER, VC




NOEL (GRENADA), VC


NEDELCHEVA, VC




THOMSON (BARBADOS)


BEARDER




GABORONE (BOTSWANA)


CHRISTENSEN




SANOU (BURKINA FASO)


COELHO




BURUNDI


DELVAUX




HAMATOUKOUR (CAMEROON)


DE SARNEZ




CAPE VERDE


ESTARÀS FERRAGUT




CHAD


FERREIRA, João




COMOROS


HALL




DOMINICA


HAUG




DOMINICAN REPUBLIC


JADOT




BALDEH (GAMBIA)


JOLY




GUINEA BISSAU


KLAß




KIRIBATI


LÓPEZ AGUILAR




MARSHALL ISLANDS


McAVAN




MICRONESIA (Federal States of)


NEUSER




NIGER


OUZKÝ




TOZAKA (SOLOMON ISLANDS)


RONZULLI




SOMALIA


ROSSI




SWAZILAND


SCHNELLHARDT




NDUGAI (TANZANIA)


SENYSZYN




TIMOR LESTE


TOIA




KHAN (TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO)


VLASÁK




VANUATU


ZIMMER







ANNEX II

RECORD OF ATTENDANCE AT THE SESSION FROM 16 TO 18 MAY IN BUDAPEST (HUNGARY)







MATONGO (Zambia), Co-President


MICHEL, Co-President




DE FONTES PEREIRA (Angola)
THOMSON (Barbados)
DAYORI (Benin)
GABORONE (Botswana) (VP)
KABORE (Burkina Faso)
KARERWA (Burundi) (VP)
HAMATOUKOUR (Cameroon) (VP)
MALLOUM (Chad)
MBUKU LAKA (Congo, Democratic Republic of the)
BOUNKOULOU (Congo, Republic of the) (VP)
GBAOU (Côte d’Ivoire)
SOUBANEH ATTEYE (Djibouti)
JIMÉNEZ (Dominican Republic)
SERICHE DOUGAN (Equatorial Guinea)
NAIB (Eritrea)
DABA (Ethiopia)
KUBUABOLA (Fiji) (1)

ROGOMBE (Gabon)
BALDEH (Gambia)
BANDUA (Ghana)
NOEL (Grenada)
PEREIRA (Guinea-Bissau)
RAMOTAR (Guyana) (VP)
MAIR (Jamaica) (VP)
KOMBO (Kenya)
LEBAJOA (Lesotho) (VP)
KOLLIE (Liberia) (VP)
AIPIRA (Malawi)
ASSARID IMBARCAOUANE (Mali) (VP)
OULD GUELAYE (Mauritania)
DEERPALSING (Mauritius)
SITHOLE (Mozambique)
VAN DER WALT (Namibia)
TAMBUWAL (Nigeria) (1)

DEKENA (Papua New Guinea)
POLISI (Rwanda) (VP)
JEAN MARIE (Saint Lucia)
SLATER (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)
TAMAPUA (Samoa)
SALL (Senegal)
WILLIAM (Seychelles)
BUNDU (Sierra Leone)
TOZAKA (Solomon Islands)
HAJAIG (South Africa)
MUSA (Sudan)
PARMESSAR (Suriname)
HLOPHE (Swaziland) (1)

NDUGAI (Tanzania) (VP)
SANTOS (Timor-Leste)
KLASSOU (Togo)
VAIPULU (Tonga)
KHAN (Trinidad and Tobago)
ITALELI (Tuvalu) (VP)
MUGAMBE (Uganda)
TOSUL (Vanuatu)
HLONGWANE (Zimbabwe)


ALFONSI
AYLWARD (for GRIESBECK)
BAUER
BEARDER
CARVALHO
CASA (2)

CASTEX
CHRISTENSEN
DAVID (for DE MITA) (3)
 (4)

ENGEL
ESTARÀS FERRAGUT
FISAS AYXELA (for DELVAUX)
GAHLER
GUERRERO SALOM
GURMAI (for DE KEYSER)
HALL
HANKISS (for WIELAND) (3)
 (4)

HAUG
HOARAU (VP)
KACZMAREK
KLAß (VP)
KORHOLA
LEINEN (for LÓPEZ AGUILAR)
McAVAN (VP)
MARTIN
MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ (2)
 (3)

MAYER
MITCHELL
MORGANTI (for SPERONI)
NEDELCHEVA
NEUSER
NICHOLSON (VP) (3)
 (4)

PONGA (for CASPARY) (2)
 (4)

RONZULLI (VP) (4)

ROSSI
SCHMIDT
SCHNELLHARDT
SCOTTÀ
ŠŤASTNÝ (VP)
STRIFFLER
STURDY
TIROLIEN
WIELAND (2)

ZÁBORSKA (for CASINI)
ZIMMER





OBSERVERS:






CUBA

REGUEIFEROS LINARES





MADAGASCAR

SERAMILA





NIGER

ABARRY (1)






INVITED:






SOUTH SUDAN

ARIKO
MUORWEL
DAR BOTH
AWERIAL
LOGONGA
IGGA
OKECH
YOKWE





Also present:


ANGOLA

DOS SANTOS
SIMBRÃO da CARVALHO
TINGAO PEDRO
ULIPAMUE
VAHEKINI

BOTSWANA

MANGOLE

BURKINA FASO

OUEDRAOGO
OUOBA NABA
SANOU

BURUNDI

MWIDOGO
NDIKUMAKO
RWANKINEZA
SINDAYIGAYA

CAMEROON

DAOUDA
KOMBO GBERI
OWONA KONO
AWUDU MBAYA

CHAD

DJIMAI
MALLOUM

CONGO (Democratic Republic of the)

EZATY
KAMBAYI
KUTEKALA KAAWA
LOMBEYA
LUTUNDULU APALA
MABAYA GIZI AMINE
MATADI NENGA GAMANDA
NKONGO BUDINA NZAU

CONGO (Republic of the)

BETE-SIBA
IBARA
IBOVI
MENGA
MOUANGA NKEOUA
PASSI

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

ZINSOU

DJIBOUTI

OMAR ABDI SAID

ERITREA

TEKLE

ETHIOPIA

TADESSE
TOGA
YILALA

FIJI

VOCEA

GABON

KOUMBA SOUVI
MANGOUALA
M’BA
MELIGUE MENGWA

GHANA

ANTWI
YIADOM

GRENADA

FLETCHER

GUINEA-BISSAU

CORREIA
DA COSTA
EMBALO
FERANADES

GUYANA

GOMES

JAMAICA

GILBERT-ROBERTS

KENYA

AFFEY
KEMBI-GITTURA
LABOSO

LESOTHO

TIHELI

LIBERIA

DUNAH
BARCLAY

MALAWI

BANDA
CITEYEYE
MWALWANDA
NDISALE
NKHATA GAMBATULA

MALI

BA
CISSE
HAIDARA CISSE
SYLLA

MAURITANIA

ABDELLA
BILAL
GUELADIO
OULD HAMOUD
OULD ZAMEL

MAURITIUS

GUNESSEE

MOZAMBIQUE

LUCAS
MALENDZA
MANUEL

NAMIBIA

NAHOLO

NIGERIA

ABDUL’AZIZ
ABDULLAHI
AHMED
AKWASHIKI
BARRAYA
SADA SOLI

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

TABERENG

SAMOA

CHAN TUNG

SENEGAL

SOW

SIERRA LEONE

JUMU
KAMARA
KARGBO
TORTO

SOLOMON ISLANDS

MA’AHANUA

SOUTH AFRICA

MANAMELA
MULDER
SOOKLAL

SUDAN

ABDEL MAGID AMIR
ABEL HALIM
HASSAN
OMER
OSMAN

SURINAME

ABDOEL
AJAISO
RATHIPAL
SOMOHARDJO

SWAZILAND

NHLEKO

TANZANIA

MWANJELWA

TOGO

GBONE

TONGA

KIOA

TUVALU

LEUELU

UGANDA

DOMBO
KATENTA-APULI
KIIZA

VANUATU

JOY

ZAMBIA

SIKOTA

ZIMBABWE

MLOTSHWA
MNKANDHLA
MUCHADA

ACP COUNCIL

USMAN, Minister of National Planning and Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission of the Federal Government (Nigeria), President of the ACP Council of Ministers

EU COUNCIL

MARTONYI, Minister for Foreign Affairs (Hungary), President-in-Office of the EU Council

AU

IGUEH OFLEH

ACP COMMITTEE OF AMBASSADORS

BARAYA

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

PIEBALGS, Member of the Commission with responsibility for development
PLEWA

EEAS

MATTHIESSEN

EESC

ANTHONY
CHIBONGA
KING

CTA

BOTO

ACP SECRETARIAT

CHAMBAS, Co-Secretary-General

EU SECRETARIAT

AGUIRIANO NALDA, Co-Secretary-General


(1)  Country represented by a person other than a Member of Parliament.

(2)  Present on 16 May 2011

(3)  Present on 17 May 2011

(4)  Present on 18 May 2011



ANNEX III

ANNEX OF THE SITTING OF MONDAY, 16 MAY 2011

Accreditation of non-parliamentary delegates






1.


Fiji
M. Ratu Inoke Kubuabola
Minister for Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation
Republic of Fiji
Head of Delegation










2.


Niger
H. E. M. Abdou Abarry
Ambassador of the Republic of Niger
Embassy of Niger
Brussels
Head of Delegation










3.


Nigeria
H. E. M. Usman Alhaji Baraya
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Embassy of Nigeria
Brussels
Head of Delegation










4.


Swaziland
H. E. M. Joel M. Nhleko
Ambassador
Embassy of the Kingdom of Swaziland
Brussels
Head of Delegation







ANNEX IV

TEXTS ADOPTED







—

Resolution on challenges for the future of democracy and respecting constitutional order in ACP and EU Countries (ACP-EU/100.919/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on budgetary support as a means of delivering official development assistance (ODA) in ACP countries (ACP-EU/100.900/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on water pollution (ACP-EU/100.915/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire (ACP-EU 100.957/11/fin.)









—

Resolution on the democratic upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East: consequences for the ACP countries, for Europe and for the world (ACP-EU/100.958/11/fin.)









—

Declaration on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, 2011









—

Declaration on Uniting for Universal Access in view of the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS in June









—

Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly submitted by the Bureau in accordance with Article 34 of the Rules of Procedure




RESOLUTION (1)

on challenges for the future of democracy and respecting constitutional order in ACP and EU Countries

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,
meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to 18 May 2011,
having regard to Article 17(1) of its Rules of Procedure,
having regard to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and in particular to Articles 3(2), 3(10), 10, 14, 15, 18-21 and 23-26 thereof,
having regard to the African Union Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002),
having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966,
having regard to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement (‘Cotonou Agreement’) and in particular to Articles 9(1), 9(2) par. 2, 9(3), 20(d) and 33(a),
having regard to the Treaty of the European Union, in particular to Articles 2, 10 (which states that the functioning of the Union shall be founded on representative democracy), 11(4), 21(1) and 21(2),
having regard to the EU-SADC Cooperation Treaty of 1994,
having regard to the SADC Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, in particular to Articles 4 and 5,
having regard to the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society of 19 February 1997, in particular Article VI,
having regard to the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa – AHG/DECL.1 (XXXVIII) – and the AU Guidelines for African Union Electoral Observation and Monitoring Missions – X/CL/35 (III) Annex II,
having regard to the resolution on challenges to the democratic accommodation of ethnic, cultural and religious diversity in ACP and EU countries (ACP-EU/100.460/09/fin),
having regard to the resolution on elections and electoral processes in ACP and EU countries (ACP-EU/100.123/07/fin),
having regard to the Global Political Agreement of 15 September 2008 concerning Zimbabwe,
having regard to Council Decision 13283/10 amending and extending the period of application of Decision 2007/641/EC concluding consultations with the Republic of Fiji Islands under Article 96 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement and Article 37 of the Development Cooperation Instrument,
having regard to the report of the Committee on Political Affairs (ACP-EU/100.919/11/fin.),






A.


whereas democracy does not equate to a level of economic development, whereas the ACP countries and the EU have shared universal values and principles in the area of democracy, good governance and human rights, and whereas democracy is a common objective at the core of EU-ACP cooperation,










B.


whereas democracy is a political system in which sovereignty comes from the people,










C.


whereas democracy is not solely about fulfilling the theoretical conditions for freedom but also about a workable system providing just and available means for all citizens to improve their day-to-day lives; whereas the European Union should be aware of the frequently levelled criticism that when assessing situations in third countries it at times focuses too much on the theoretical aspects of democracy while forgetting to review to what extent a genuinely democratic society is being achieved,










D.


whereas democratic principles must not be overshadowed by the search for economic and social stability,










E.


whereas free and fair elections are vital, but insufficient for true democracy, since democracy is a permanent quest, requiring respect for pluralism, majority rule and minority rights, the rule of law and a legal framework within which no party can amend the constitution to its own benefit,










F.


whereas the constitutional rules on succession of power and fundamental rights should never be ambiguous or a potential subject of haphazard interpretation,










G.


whereas post-election government formation often poses significant democracy challenges, in particular when power-sharing deals are established,










H.


whereas both EU and ACP countries have a strong common interest in the continued development of democracy and the establishment of properly functioning constitutionalism,










I.


whereas human, economic and social development enables parliamentary democracy to function more easily,










J.


whereas the integrity of public affairs and of the management of public funds is at the heart of good governance and the rule of law; whereas political leaders must be held accountable politically and legally for the private appropriation of public funds,










K.


whereas the same principles must apply across the board and not be subject to specific national or regional ‘standards’,




I.   Democratic principles







1.


Stresses that the foundation for a solid democracy consists in universality of rights, equality for all citizens before the law and freedom of the individual; points out that it is fundamental that all cultures, religions and ethnic groups within a country must be respected;










2.


Recalls that all democratic systems are based on a constitution and the accompanying jurisdiction, and stresses the importance of ensuring respect for the principle of the independence of the judiciary;










3.


Stresses that the balance of powers (executive, legislative, judicial) is a sine qua non for the exercise of democracy;










4.


Underlines the importance of regularly consulting the people through free, fair and undistorted elections and referenda, preceded by extensive information campaigns and debates;










5.


Emphasises the importance of a pluralist political party system and the clear definition of an opposition status;










6.


Emphasises the common values and objectives of the EU and the ACP countries in terms of democracy and good governance; stresses, however, that all countries have their own cultural and historical particularities and that these differences must be respected;










7.


Stresses that a society cannot be truly democratic without independent, free and pluralist media;










8.


Calls for vigilance regarding electoral systems in both EU and ACP member states; warns against practices such as gerrymandering, manipulating electoral lists, bias on the part of judges of constitutionality or election disputes, and moulding or amending a constitution to answer to the aspirations of those in power;










9.


Stresses that elections and representative democracy must not be a problem but a solution, which means that:






—


they must be free and fair;










—


the loser must accept the results and contest them only by constitutional means;










—


the majority must respect minorities, the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary;














10.


Stresses the pressing need to tackle everyday problems, such as poverty, lack of accessible health services and corruption, which contribute to the population’s perception that democracy has not improved their day-to-day lives;




II.   Democratic institutions







11.


Highlights the importance of a clear balance and separation of powers;










12.


Recommends that constitutions define clearly the rules on the separation of powers and specify the corresponding institutional framework; expresses reservations about flexible constitutions that are subject to frequent amendments;










13.


Underlines the role that parliaments must play in monitoring the executive;










14.


Hopes that the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) will play a key role in the exchange of opinion, experience and practice in the field of parliamentary work;










15.


Advocates the introduction of institutions and mechanisms that prevent monopolies of wealth and corruption;










16.


Recommends that rules for political succession be clearly defined, while warning about easily amendable constitutions;










17.


Advocates that constitutional fundamental rights be drafted in such a way that any permitted restrictions are clearly defined and limited and strictly subject to the general interest;










18.


Recognises that although power-sharing agreements can prove useful in the event of grave crises, these measures should only be taken in highly exceptional circumstances and for a limited period; stresses that power-sharing can lead to the absence of a true, critical opposition, as is apparent for example in Zimbabwe and Kenya; underlines that power-sharing is quite different from coalition government;










19.


Warns that the division of power under power-sharing agreements is never clearly defined, creating even more conflict, with the risk that the opinion of civil society is overlooked, since such agreements are often agreements between political party elites;










20.


Stresses that an opposition status is essential for the exercise of democracy, as are strict rules on the funding of political parties;










21.


Recalls that during election campaigns the allocation of state resources must be strictly controlled;










22.


Emphasises that all elections must be free, fair and undistorted and that the results must be scrupulously respected; stresses that attempts to use elections as a tool pose a threat to democracy;




III.   Democratic Challenges







23.


Welcomes the increase in democratic elections on the African continent, while urging the continuation of close election monitoring, not only during and before, but also, and above all, after elections, and reiterates the central role played by independent national election committees, including financial support; stresses that the latter are often under-resourced; underlines the importance of ensuring that the competent national and international authorities monitor the elections;










24.


Recommends, in order to promote democracy, measures to ensure the emergence of citizenship in all of its political, economic and social dimensions, through a set of specific rules and a high-quality education system;










25.


Stresses the positive role played by the army in Guinea and Niger in ensuring the transition towards democracy; hopes that all the members of the transition authorities refrain from standing as candidates in the elections for the return to democracy;










26.


Condemns the poor commitment among some leaders of ACP countries to democratic values, often reflected in the dominance of the sacred sovereignty of tradition;










27.


Deplores the lack of EU observation teams in past elections, for example the last Rwandan elections, and calls for an increase in autonomous joint ACP-EU missions in the future, combining the extensive and varied experience of the two sides; stresses the considerable added value of the cooperation between national representatives of the ACP countries and the EU during these missions;










28.


Deplores the threat to democracy posed by corruption, also within the EU;










29.


Warns against constitutional reforms or electoral changes introduced at legislative level just before upcoming elections, and stresses the risk that these changes may influence voting results;










30.


Commends, on the other hand, the increasingly stronger position of parliaments in several nations, the outstanding resistance of the Parliament of Nigeria to modifying the constitution for a third presidential term in 2006 being a prominent example; encourages regular consultation and consideration of the positions expressed by national parliaments;










31.


Welcomes the peaceful presidential election in Niger in March 2011 and stresses that this is a milestone in the process of transition to democracy; likewise welcomes the well-organised and peaceful referendum on independence for Southern Sudan in January 2011, which showed the will of the two parties to resolve the issue of independence in a peaceful manner;










32.


Condemns the refusal by the outgoing President of Côte d’Ivoire, Laurent Gbagbo, to accept the results proclaimed by the Independent Electoral Commission and certified by the UN;










33.


Supports the right of citizens to express their will for political change through peaceful demonstrations and supports the democratic movements of mass demonstration by people living under dictatorship; condemns any disproportionate use of armed force to crack down on these demonstrations;




IV.   Concrete measures







34.


Welcomes the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which extends the powers of the European Parliament with a view to enhancing the democratic dimension of its actions;










35.


Calls on all countries to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and deplores the fact that freedom of thought and cultural rights are not sufficiently guaranteed in several ACP countries; encourages joint discussions on these topics between the EU Member States and the ACP countries;










36.


Supports the efforts, and recognises the importance, of the work of the AU, Caricom, Comesa, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and applauds initiatives such as PIANZEA (2); points to the need for concrete measures such as additional training of election observers in the IGAD and SADC framework;










37.


Stresses the need to strengthen, through training and retraining, the intrinsic capacity of those called upon to lead the democratic institutions and bodies (constitutional court, independent national election committees) involved in running the elections, with a view to streamlining, where possible, the various operations in the electoral process and avoiding the pitfalls that often lead to major post-election crises;










38.


Calls for an increase in education on the concept of democracy in ACP and EU countries; undertakes to investigate possible measures within the framework of the JPA;










39.


Encourages the EU and ACP member states to make efforts to share best practice in the area of constitutional law, for example by organising reciprocal exchange missions at expert level;










40.


Undertakes to continue monitoring democratic trends, and reaffirms the need to adopt appropriate measures under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement when an EU or an ACP member state has failed to fulfil its obligations, as recently done by the Council of the EU with regard to Madagascar and Fiji;










41.


Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the European Commission, the Commission of the African Union, and the Pan-African Parliament.






RESOLUTION (3)

on budgetary support as a means of delivering official development assistance (ODA) in ACP countries

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,
meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to 18 May 2011,
having regard to Article 17(1) of its Rules of Procedure,
having regard to the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 and revised in 2005 and 2010, and in particular Articles 1, 2, 9, 33 and 61 thereof,
having regard to the UN Millennium Declaration of 18 September 2000, which sets out the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as objectives established jointly by the international community for the elimination of poverty,
having regard to the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly entitled ‘Keeping the promise: united to achieve the Millennium Development Goals’, adopted at the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals held in New York from 20 to 22 September 2010,
having regard to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of 2 March 2005 and the Accra Agenda for Action of 4 September 2008,
having regard to the European Consensus on Development,
having regard to the Annual Report 2010 on the European Community’s development and external assistance policies and their implementation in 2009,
having regard to the Commission Green Paper on ‘The Future of EU Budget Support to Third Countries’ of 19 October 2010,
having regard to the Court of Auditors’ Annual Report on the activities funded by the eighth, ninth and tenth European Development Funds (EDFs) of 9 November 2010 (4),
having regard to Special Report No 11/2010 of the European Court of Auditors entitled ‘The Commission’s management of general budget support in ACP, Latin American and Asian Countries’,
having regard to the study by the Policy Department of the Directorate-General for External Policies of the European Parliament on ‘Monitoring budget support in developing countries: A comparative analysis of the national control mechanisms over budget support in developing countries’ of 15 July 2010,
having regard to its resolution on aid effectiveness and defining official development assistance, adopted in Port Moresby on 28 November 2008 (5),
having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade (ACP-EU/100.900/11/fin.),






A.


whereas ACP-EU development finance cooperation is a partnership based on the development strategies of the ACP States and on mutual rights and obligations ensuring aid efficiency and coordination,










B.


whereas donor and partner countries alike wish to respond to emerging aid effectiveness issues, so that Official Development Assistance (ODA) translates fully into positive impacts on people’s lives by eradicating poverty and promoting peace and prosperity,










C.


whereas budget support has become an increasingly important aid modality, and whereas the European Commission aims to increase budget support from 25 % of programmable funding under the 9th EDF to almost 50 % of programmable aid under the 10th EDF,










D.


whereas budget support has contributed to increasing the level of commitment and disbursement of EDF resources in many ACP States,










E.


whereas in 2009 budget support represented 28 % (EUR 2,32 billion) of all commitments from the EU budget and the EDF, and whereas General Budget Support (GBS) amounted to EUR 860 million and accounted for 35 % of all new budget support operations (all beneficiaries were ACP countries), while Sector Budget Support (SBS) represented 33 % of new budget support commitments for the ACP; whereas the amount and orientation of budget support delivered bilaterally by EU Member States varies considerably,










F.


whereas one of the aims of budget support is to improve policy dialogue between donors and recipients, as it is conducted within the framework of a donor-recipient partnership in terms of priority-setting and evaluation, which helps to align donors’ contributions to the country’s own needs and preferences, with the goal of promoting nationally owned poverty reduction strategies or sector strategies,










G.


whereas budget support, in accordance with the ownership principle, uses country systems (rather than duplicating structures and institutions in the partner country), with a view to increasing predictability and avoiding aid fragmentation, bureaucracy and transaction costs for both donor and partner countries,










H.


whereas closer cooperation among donors is still needed and whereas budget support allows for better harmonisation of donors’ actions,










I.


whereas budget support is seen as politically sensitive, but is an aid instrument that should not be overburdened with political demands,










J.


whereas budget support should not be provided where there is proven corruption,










K.


whereas budget support can contribute to building institutional capacity and to improving accountability and scrutiny by domestic stakeholders; whereas, however, its success is determined by governments’ capacity to plan, execute and account for their public spending; whereas domestically driven demands for accountability are crucial to governance,










L.


whereas civil society needs to be sufficiently involved in the budget support dialogue, the implementation of budget support programmes and the assessment of budget spending, and whereas parliaments must play a full role in terms of monitoring and assessment, both bottom-up and top-down; whereas audit institutions have an important role in monitoring and auditing budget support,










1.


Stresses that budget support, as a means of financial assistance for development, should focus on reducing poverty and achieving the MDGs through sustainably increasing public expenditure, and can only be effective if both partners assume their responsibilities in a true partnership;










2.


Asks donor countries to increase the aid going through country budget systems to the 50 % promised, taking account of the eligibility criteria; invites the European Commission and the interested ACP countries to work towards concluding MDG-type contracts;










3.


Calls on the Commission to use budget support as its main aid modality, provided the eligibility criteria laid down in the Cotonou Agreement are met, and to encourage a collective EU target for budget support;










4.


Calls on the Commission to carry out, and share with donors and recipients, country-level assessments of the potential risks and benefits of budget support, allowing for choices about the scope, scale, design and role of budget support in any given partner country; notes, in this context, that significant volumes of budget support might be problematic if macroeconomic stability and elementary fiscal discipline have not been established;










5.


Calls on the EU to adopt a dynamic and incremental approach to budget support as capacity in partner countries improves;










6.


Calls on the EU to develop and manage budget support by seeking to exploit complementarities with other aid modalities and promoting alignment and coordination among the various general and sector budget support instruments; calls on the Commission to examine the implications of decentralising part of budget support;










7.


Calls on donors to increase coordination and aid predictability and to simplify procedures; stresses that budget support donors should be prepared for lengthy engagement with partner countries in a spirit of policy coherence for development;










8.


Encourages the Commission to maintain its dynamic approach on eligibility criteria; calls for performance indicators to be agreed with the ACP countries on the basis of in-depth dialogue and to be measured against results on poverty eradication and the achievement of the MDGs, as well as in other priority areas jointly agreed by the donor and recipient countries;










9.


Stresses that budget support should not be linked to political conditionality and that political dialogue is to take place at the level of overall cooperation and partnership and not in the framework of individual aid instruments such as budget support; stresses, however, the importance of high-level policy dialogue for efficient use of budget support;










10.


Calls on the EU to raise systematically the issue of parliamentary oversight of budget support in the framework of the policy dialogue; recalls that including aid in budgets is a key step towards increasing parliamentary scrutiny of aid; calls on the governments of the recipient countries to provide their parliaments with the information necessary in order to hold the executive to account, and calls on parliamentarians to make use of their existing powers;










11.


Calls on partner countries to base budget support on sound, detailed national poverty-reduction plans, and on recipient countries to use funds to improve universal access to basic public services and reduce the incidence of poverty;










12.


Calls for capacity building in all ministries in order to ensure greater empowerment of the poorest and increased effectiveness in strategic spending, essentially in the areas of health, education, employment, agriculture and infrastructure;










13.


Calls on the EU to apply gender mainstreaming by using gender-disaggregated indicators, and on partner countries to include a gender perspective in the budgetary process and to promote dialogue with women’s organisations;










14.


Stresses that budget support should not be linked to the fulfilment of economic conditions that are likely to hamper ACP countries’ development;










15.


Recalls that systemic strengthening of public finance is an important part of a broad anti-corruption strategy, which requires regular supervision by the beneficiary countries;










16.


Calls on both donor and recipient governments to focus on ensuring full budget transparency and accountability, as these are key to good economic and political governance; emphasises the need for consistently engaging with national parliaments, local government and non-state actors and increasing parliaments’ and audit institutions’ capacity building in order to strengthen domestic accountability, public financial management systems and monitoring mechanisms;










17.


Calls on donor and recipient countries to accompany budget support with measures to strengthen public financial management systems and audit capacity, to increase parliaments’ capacity building and to support non-state actors; calls on the ACP countries and the Commission to implement, in the context of the mid-term review of the Intra-ACP and RIP under the 10th EDF, an Intra-ACP programme to support capacity building in interested ACP countries through a peer learning and support programme with a view to improving the public financial management necessary to sustaining rapid and ambitious reforms;










18.


Stresses that more information on budget support in donor and partner countries will enhance transparency and accountability and contribute to greater effectiveness of this instrument; calls for a systematic assessment of evaluation studies with a view to identifying possible shortcomings and thus improving implementation;










19.


Recommends that the partners standardise as far as possible the assessment criteria for budget support in order to ensure better monitoring and an assessment of this aid modality;










20.


Calls on the Commission, the EU Council and the EU Member States to provide adequate resources to the 11th EDF, building on the resources of the 10th EDF, in accordance with their commitment to allocating 0,7 % of their GNI to ODA by 2015, and taking account of the need for financing of new obligations agreed in the recently completed second review of the Cotonou Agreement;










21.


Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the national and regional parliaments of the ACP and EU Member States.






RESOLUTION (6)

on water pollution

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,

meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to 18 May 2011,
having regard to Article 17(1) of its Rules of Procedure,
having regard to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 64/292 entitled ‘The human right to water and sanitation’,
having regard to United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 15/9 entitled ‘Human rights and access to safe drinking water and sanitation’,
having regard to the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, which sets out the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as criteria established jointly by the international community for the elimination of poverty, and particularly to Goal 7,
having regard to the report of July 2009 by the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration,
having regard to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report entitled ‘Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals’, published in January 2010,
having regard to the UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and WFP report entitled ‘Stocktaking on the Millennium Development Goals’, published in January 2010,
having regard to the UNDP Human Development Report 2006, entitled ‘Beyond scarcity: power, poverty and the global water crisis’,
having regard to the annual report (2010) entitled ‘UN-Water global annual assessment of sanitation and drinking water (GLAAS)’,
having regard to the UNICEF report entitled ‘Progress for children – achieving the MDGs with equity’, published in September 2010,
having regard to the twelve-point European Union (EU) action plan in support of the Millennium Development Goals, which was issued by the European Commission on 21 April 2010,
having regard to the UN High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on Millennium Development Goals held in New York on 20-22 September 2010,
having regard to the G8 Water Action Plan, adopted in Evian in 2003, and the subsequent reports pertaining thereto,
having regard to the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 1990, 1995, 2001 and 2007,
having regard to the resolution on water in developing countries adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 23 November 2006 in Bridgetown (Barbados),
having regard to the report by the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment (ACP-EU/100.915/11/fin.),






A.


whereas the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council have recognised that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental right,










B.


whereas water is an essential resource for life and health and a public good, and not solely a commodity, and whereas although access to water is a fundamental right, society and individuals bear the responsibility for managing it in a sustainable way,










C.


whereas MDG 7 includes the specific target of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation; whereas, despite all the progress that has been made, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa will not, as matters currently stand, achieve this Millennium Development Goal; whereas drinking water supplies and sanitation continue to be problems, particularly outside of towns,










D.


whereas according to the latest UN figures, almost 900 million people in the world today do not have access to safe drinking water, 2,6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation, and contaminated water is the second most frequent cause of infant mortality in the world,










E.


whereas achieving MDG 7 would create an extra 322 million additional working days and would allow the health sector to save USD 7 billion per year; whereas, in addition, for every dollar invested in sanitation and safe drinking water, the return in terms of economic development is between USD 3 and USD 34,










F.


whereas women and girls, who are responsible for collecting water and caring for the sick, are the first to suffer from the lack of safe drinking water, and whereas access to safe water is essential for maternal health; whereas, in addition, the distances that need to be covered in order to have access to clean water and the lack of sanitation in schools have an adverse effect on access to education for girls in particular,










G.


whereas EU Member States are among the principal donors in the water sector and can draw on a wealth of experience in international development cooperation and water management,










H.


whereas the EU Water Initiative launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, September 2002) was designed as an integrated approach to water resource management, in order to meet the MDGs and sustainable development targets for drinking water and sanitation,










I.


whereas 70 % of untreated industrial waste in developing countries is disposed of in water, polluting the water supply,










J.


whereas, because of the length of river courses and associated water systems, the problem of water pollution is a cross-border issue that requires common action,










K.


whereas in 2002 the EU adopted the Water Framework Directive in order to rationalise its approach to water-related issues and to introduce a general obligation to protect the environment and a minimum standard for all surface waters,










L.


whereas climate change has an influence on access to safe water and sanitation, and the 2007 IPCC report concluded that climate change would reach dramatic proportions by 2050,










1.


Takes the view that, given the importance of water as a vital resource, access to clean water is a fundamental human right and must be guaranteed, particularly for food preparation and hygiene; adds that access to water is also essential to production; believes that access to water must be used as a human development indicator;










2.


Points out that water pollution prevention makes greater economic sense than any form of water treatment and purification after domestic and other use;










3.


Stresses that the problem of water and water pollution is a cross-cutting issue and should be tackled with a multidisciplinary and multilateral approach that combines economic viability, social solidarity, employment protection, ecological responsibility, the precautionary principle and rational use, so as not to compromise the needs of future generations;










4.


Regards any investment in water infrastructure and services as a catalyst for development, since improved water services will provide jobs for local communities, free up time for other productive activities and foster the social dimension at a local level;










5.


Stresses the importance of dialogue between institutions and the local population throughout the decision-making process concerning water resources with a view to facilitating the participation of all interested parties, fulfilling the real needs of users and choosing solutions which take account of the climate, the environment and the skills available for the installation and maintenance of drinking water supply systems; stresses the need for a proper communication strategy, education and advocacy measures on the importance of clean water;










6.


Stresses the importance of financing micro- and small projects in order to bring about a sustainable improvement in local conditions, and underlines the need for better information on possible sources of support;










7.


Stresses the need to have an appropriate legal framework guaranteeing access to water, including drinking water, its quality and its responsible use; recommends the implementation of the ‘polluter pays’ principle; recalls that the adoption of legislation on the protection of drinking water must be a priority for governments;






Waste water pollution








8.


Stresses that safe access to clean water, proper disposal of waste water and water sanitation are important prerequisites for public health, because they help to reduce mortality rates from diseases linked to the quality of water, especially among children; notes that the United Nations has recognised the right of access to sanitation as a human right on the same footing as the right to safe drinking water;










9.


Stresses, however, that the provision of widespread safe access to drinking water through networks supplying drinking water and disposing of waste water is expensive and will be a burden on the limited financial capacities of many ACP countries; recalls, nevertheless, that this should be one of the priorities of the authorities; recommends greater use of boreholes in villages and shanty towns with very rapidly increasing populations and the use of innovative solutions, for example chlorine tablets to combat diseases such as cholera, which are caused by increasingly frequent flooding;










10.


Stresses the need to combat waste wherever there is a risk of water shortage, and to optimise water usage, in particular through re-use, while bearing in mind water’s manifold purposes and fostering a sense of responsibility among users;










11.


Believes that innovative approaches to balancing the water cycle, such as alternative technologies adapted to the local situation and the use of organic matter as a fertiliser, must be encouraged;










12.


Stresses that an adequate, safe water supply can be secured only through long-term strategies and that, to achieve this, the least expensive and most innovative, efficient and sustainable treatment technologies must be encouraged, if necessary through technology transfer, without neglecting the environmental dimension and taking into account the local situation, in consultation with the local population;










13.


Stresses the importance of the Second ACP-EU Water Facility and supports its projects, which have been allocated EUR 200 million from the 10th European Development Fund, in ensuring water supply and basic sanitation for the most disadvantaged populations, helping to improve water governance and management of water resources and contributing to the sustainable development and maintenance of water infrastructure; recalls, however, that any decision to this effect must be taken as close as possible to the people concerned;






Industrial and agricultural pollution








14.


Takes note of increasing agricultural production, mining, industrial production, power generation, forestry and other economic activities in ACP countries, which are bringing about changes in the chemical, biological and physical characteristics of water in ways that can threaten human health, ecosystems and biodiversity;










15.


Calls on the ACP countries and the EU Member States to tackle the pollution of rivers by toxic chemicals and heavy metals, which are a major source of water pollution in EU countries, as well as in some ACP countries; asks that all possible measures be taken to prevent industry, deforestation, mining, chemical production and the extensive use of pesticides in agriculture and horticulture from affecting water quality and purity, in accordance with the precautionary principle; calls for standards to be introduced and for analyses to be carried out in at-risk areas with penalties for polluters, in order to combat the pollution of surface waters (rivers, lakes, run-offs) and the water table by fertilisers, pesticides, toxic chemicals and heavy metals;






Climate and demographic change








16.


Underlines the need to study further the links between the rising global population and climate change, and in particular their potential impact on access to essential natural resources such as safe drinking water and on coastal waters;










17.


Notes the increasing urbanisation in ACP countries, which triggers a need for major investment in infrastructure to deliver water and process waste water; therefore encourages investment in recovery and reuse of water with a view to saving water and, consequently, energy;










18.


Urges the international community to recognise the importance of tropical forest protection and to start tackling this as a priority issue, calling on all parties concerned, including emerging countries, to fulfil the commitments entered into the Copenhagen Agreement to mitigating and transferring clean technologies in order to preserve the planet’s water resources and deal with climate change and the restrictions that it could impose on drinking water resources;










19.


Calls on the European Commission to transfer the best legislative and technological water protection practices to the ACP countries and to create an online platform to collect examples of best practice in water protection;










20.


Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Presidency of the Council of the EU and the African Union.






RESOLUTION (7)

on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,
meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to 18 May 2011,
having regard to Article 17(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
having regard to the United Nations Security Council resolutions and the decisions and declarations of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union on Côte d’Ivoire,
having regard to the United Nations Human Rights Council resolution of 25 March 2011 establishing an international commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations in Côte d’Ivoire since the presidential election of November 2010,
having regard to the declaration submitted by the Ivorian Government on 1 October 2003 accepting the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crimes committed in its territory as from 19 September 2002,
having regard to its Co-Presidents’ statements of 3 December 2010 and 18 March 2011 condemning the violence and human rights violations in Côte d’Ivoire,
having regard to the European Parliament’s resolutions of 16 December 2006 and 7 April 2011 on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire,






A.


whereas the sole source of legitimacy is universal suffrage, which means having incontestable election results,










B.


having regard to the seriousness of the political crisis that arose after the results of the second round of the Ivorian presidential election of 28 November 2010 were challenged,










C.


whereas the objective of the election was to bring an end to a political crisis that had divided the country for a decade,










D.


whereas, for the first time in Africa, the UN was entrusted, through two of its resolutions, and with the agreement of the then President, Laurent Gbagbo, with certifying the results of the presidential election, and whereas those certified results designated Mr Alassane Ouattara President-elect of Côte d’Ivoire,










E.


whereas Law 2001-303 and Article 64 of the Ordinance of 2008 do not give the Ivorian Constitutional Council the power to proclaim results different from those of the Independent Electoral Commission,










F.


whereas the outgoing President, Laurent Gbagbo, had the responsibility of ensuring a peaceful handover to his successor in order to maintain civil peace,










G.


whereas as early as 7 December 2010 ECOWAS called on the outgoing President to ‘yield power without delay’,










H.


whereas on 8 December 2010 the African Union called on the outgoing President to ‘respect the will of the people as expressed through the ballot box and surrender power peacefully in order to avoid a bloodbath’; having regard to its numerous mediation efforts,










I.


whereas all attempts at mediation to persuade former President Gbagbo to hand over power to the democratically elected President failed,










J.


whereas former President Gbagbo’s refusal to hand over power to the democratically elected president has taken Côte d’Ivoire to the brink of civil war,










K.


whereas the violence against civilians has resulted in several thousand deaths, over one million people being internally displaced and over 100 000 people seeking refuge in neighbouring countries,










L.


whereas atrocities have been committed in Côte d’Ivoire, including cases of sexual violence, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and the excessive and indiscriminate use of force against civilians, which constitute crimes against humanity,










M.


whereas these abuses, looked into by three UN-appointed international investigators, were probably committed by different parties to the conflict on the mere suspicion that the victims belonged to an ethnic group different from that of the perpetrators,










N.


whereas attacks intentionally directed against UN peacekeepers and institutions also constitute war crimes,










O.


having regard to the application to the International Criminal Court forwarded to The Hague on President Ouattara’s behalf on 9 March 2011,










P.


whereas this violence will have incalculable repercussions on the life of the population,










Q.


whereas President Ouattara has called for an end to the violence, for reconciliation and for the establishment of a Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue,










R.


whereas this period of crisis has had extremely negative economic, social and humanitarian effects, with young people facing a lack of job prospects,










S.


having regard to the more favourable prospects opening up for Côte d’Ivoire following the arrest of former President Gbagbo,










1.


Welcomes the fact that the elected President of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr Ouattara, has now taken office;










2.


Condemns the attempts by former President Gbagbo and his supporters to violently usurp power against the will of the Ivorian people;










3.


States that it has full confidence in the UN staff responsible for certifying the election results;










4.


Commends the efforts deployed by ECOWAS, the African Union and the UN to find a diplomatic solution, which could have prevented the widespread suffering caused by the use of armed force, and regrets the failure of these efforts;










5.


Deplores the high price the Ivorian people have had to pay to ensure that their democratically expressed will is respected;










6.


Condemns wholeheartedly all of the brutality, repeated campaigns to incite hatred, reprisals, pillaging, settling of scores and serious human rights violations; condemns in particular the violence that has occurred, especially the use of heavy weapons against civilians, the attacks on UN personnel, the sexual violence and the massacres confirmed by the UN and humanitarian organisations;










7.


Welcomes the United Nations Security Council decision to authorise the United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI) to use force in order to protect the civilian population, inter alia by preventing further use of heavy weapons; calls for ONUCI, with the assistance of the French Force ‘Licorne’, to continue to provide effective protection of civilians in Côte d’Ivoire for as long as they are requested to do so by the Ivorian authorities;










8.


Condemns the failure to comply with the arms embargo; welcomes the UN decision of 28 April 2011 to maintain this embargo for another year and urges the Member States of the European Union and the African Union to do everything possible to render it effective;










9.


Calls on Côte d’Ivoire’s neighbours to take every possible step to ensure that they do not serve as a refuge for forces seeking to destabilise the country, thus helping the Ivorian Government to improve the security of its borders;










10.


Deplores the massive loss of human life and the targeted acts of destruction of property; expresses its condolences to the injured and the families of the victims and those who have disappeared; sends its heartfelt condolences to the Ivorian people and government, and urges the parties on the ground to do all in their power to prevent further human rights violations and to ensure the safety of the population;










11.


Welcomes President Ouattara’s commitment to restoring the rule of law, calls on the Ivorian authorities to ensure that all their actions respect the rule of law, which means that appropriate recourse to legal prosecution should be used against all those who have used, or continue to use, violence and against all those who have diverted State resources into private hands, but stresses that those accused should be afforded a full right of defence in an impartial and non-selective judicial framework; welcomes the EU’s decision to provide immediate aid of EUR 18 million for the purpose of modernising the Ivorian judicial system;










12.


Hopes that the truth about all the massacres and crimes will be brought to light; welcomes the UN’s decision to establish an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity; calls on all the parties concerned to cooperate fully;










13.


Welcomes the decision by the Prosecutor of the ICC to request authorisation from the Pre-Trial Chamber to launch an investigation into the ‘widespread and systematic killings’, given that the ICC can determine its jurisdiction on the basis of Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute;










14.


Recalls that there is no statute of limitations for war crimes and crimes against humanity and that those responsible should not have any temporal, geographical or political impunity;










15.


Welcomes President Ouattara’s calls for an end to violence and for reconciliation, and hopes that these calls will be heeded across the country, especially within the administration and the armed forces; welcomes the establishment of a Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Dialogue and stresses the importance of social cohesion in the country;










16.


Reiterates its support for President Ouattara, his government and the people of Côte d’Ivoire in their task of reconciliation, recovery and sustainable development; calls for the initiation of talks to restore order and peace and to establish stability and security in the country while promoting national unity;










17.


Recalls President Ouattara’s proposal to form a government of national unity in order to promote a democratic and peaceful political transition and enable all political opinions in the country and each of the regions to be represented;










18.


Hopes that this restoration of civil peace will allow a parliament to be elected as soon as possible;










19.


Congratulates the European Union on its effective humanitarian aid, which amounts to more than EUR 54 million, and encourages it to continue its efforts until the refugees and displaced persons return; recalls that more than 100 000 refugees have fled Côte d’Ivoire, mostly to Liberia, and that over one million have been internally displaced; calls on the international donors to support the action of the European Union, which has released EUR 180 million in aid with effect from April 2011;










20.


Welcomes the end of the cocoa export ban by the Ivorian authorities and the lifting of the EU’s sanctions on economic entities, which has enabled cocoa exports to be resumed;










21.


Hopes that Côte d’Ivoire can benefit from the external debt relief totalling USD 3 billion that it was granted under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, from EDF projects, aid from the World Bank and the IMF, and, where necessary, the additional funds from the European Union, in order to relaunch the Ivorian economy as quickly as possible;










22.


Looks forward to its fact-finding mission to Côte d’Ivoire;










23.


Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the Ivorian President, Alassane Ouattara, the institutions of the European Union, the African Union and ECOWAS, and to the UN Secretary-General and the ICC Prosecutor.






RESOLUTION (8)

on the democratic upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East: consequences for the ACP countries, for Europe and for the world

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,
meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to18 May 2011,
having regard to Article 17(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted on 10 December 1948 in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly,
having regard to Article 2, paragraph 7, of the UN Charter, which establishes non-interference in the internal affairs of a state as a peacemaking principle in international relations, and to exceptions to the principle of non-interference, which apply only in the event of a of threat to collective security and are determined exclusively by the Security Council of the United Nations (Chapter VII),
having regard to the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy since 2004, in particular the Commission’s progress reports of 12 May 2010 on its fulfilment of the objectives aimed at strengthening prosperity, stability and security in neighbouring countries (9),
having regard to the joint communication ‘A Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean’ (10), which introduces a new approach to the European Union’s policy towards its southern neighbours,
having regard to the European Parliament resolutions of 3 and 17 February, 24 March and 7 April 2011, respectively on the situation in Tunisia and in Egypt, EU relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, the review of the European Neighbourhood Policy – Southern Dimension (11), and the situation in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen (12),
having regard to the 1975 United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Bahrain, Syria and Yemen are parties,
having regard to the Declarations of the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean adopted at its meetings in Paris (12 July 2008), Cairo (20 November 2009), Rabat (22 January 2010), Palermo (18 June 2010) and Rome (12 November 2010),
having regard to previous UN resolutions on Libya, including Resolution 1973(2011) of March 17 2011, whereby member states and regional organisations are allowed to participate in a no-fly zone over Libya to protect the civilian population and to ‘take all necessary measures to protect civilian populations and areas at risk of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya’,
having regard to the contradictory interpretations surrounding the application of this Resolution,
having regard to the reservations expressed by the African Union about the implementation of that resolution,
having regard to the statements made by the High Representative/Vice-President of the Commission, on behalf of the European Union, on Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain between February and May 2011,
having regard to the negotiation initiative undertaken by the African Union with the aim of putting an end to the fighting between the Libyan opposition and the government of Muammar Gaddafi,






A.


whereas the victory of the Tunisian and Egyptian people represents a new wind of hope, freedom, solidarity, democracy and real change, desired by both those populations and by all oppressed peoples,










B.


whereas through peaceful demonstrations the people of the southern Mediterranean and numerous Middle Eastern countries have clearly expressed their legitimate aspirations for democratic reform,










C.


whereas these upheavals have resulted in the loss of human lives, and have left thousands of displaced people and refugees both within and outside the countries concerned,










D.


whereas these democratic uprisings are largely motivated by an unequal distribution of wealth, lack of freedoms, corruption and nepotism; whereas they reflect the general discontent of the population with the regimes in power and their desire for a combination of economic growth, respect for democratic values and social welfare,










E.


whereas most of the regimes that have been toppled or challenged in the regions have been supported by the European Union and its Member States, primarily for geo-strategic, military, commercial and economic reasons,










F.


whereas it is important to consider the risk of dissemination of weapons of war and the consequent threats to the safety of humanity,










G.


having regard to the interdependence of the world’s regions and the inevitable consequences – positive or negative – that these movements may have on neighbouring regions in Africa and in the European Union,










H.


whereas the evolution of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) since 2004 has revealed numerous shortcomings in terms of defence of human rights and democratic principles and has not succeeded in bringing about the necessary political, social and institutional reforms, notably because of insufficient dialogue with civil society and the forces of democracy,










I.


whereas the democratic uprisings of the people of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan and other Middle Eastern countries mean that the European Union must adapt the ENP with a view to providing effective support for the process of political, economic and social reform, while categorically condemning the use of force to suppress peaceful demonstrations,










J.


whereas, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 450 000 people have fled from Libya to neighbouring Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Mali and Chad and to Europe, and whereas hundreds of thousands more refugees and foreign workers face a desperate struggle to escape the conflict or leave Libya; whereas this is creating a humanitarian emergency that calls for a quick EU reaction and solidarity among Member States and neighbouring countries,










K.


whereas on Monday, 16 May 2011 the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague requested arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi and his military intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity,










1.


Applauds the courage and determination of the people of the Middle East and North Africa, and strongly supports their legitimate democratic aspirations, which could be an inspiration for democratic change in countries in Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific, Europe and the rest of the world; reiterates its strong support for people who are demonstrating peacefully against authoritarian repressive regimes, especially for the young people and women acting as key agents and catalysts for democratic reform in the Arab world;










2.


Notes that the recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East have political, economic and social repercussions, above all in the countries themselves, but also in the ACP states and in Europe;










3.


Calls on the European Union to lend strong support to the political and economic reforms in the region; stresses that in order to best support the democratic transition, it is essential to mobilise all existing instruments in the framework of the ENP and development policy; calls for special attention to be paid to respect for fundamental freedoms, good governance, an independent judiciary and the fight against corruption in order to respond to the needs and expectations of the people;










4.


Calls on the European Union to consider a temporary suspension of repayment of the debts of the countries in question, and stresses the need to carry out an audit of those debts; calls for the property of the corrupt leaders to be frozen and returned to the public exchequers of the countries concerned;










5.


Calls for greater attention to be paid to cooperation with civil societies, as they are the main catalyst for the popular uprisings throughout the region; calls also for every effort to be made to ensure that the aid from the European Union and the international community actually reaches them;










6.


Regrets the selective indignation of the international community in response to the violence in Yemen, Syria and, especially, Bahrain, where troops of the joint force of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) came from Saudi Arabia to crush protests;










7.


Calls on the authorities to refrain from the use of violence against demonstrators, to respect their freedom of assembly and expression, and to guarantee their security; calls for independent inquiries into the events leading to deaths, injuries and imprisonments of peaceful protesters in these countries and for those responsible to be brought to justice; calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all persons arrested during the demonstrations as well as of all political prisoners, human rights defenders and journalists;










8.


Takes the view that closer sub-regional cooperation between the EU Member States, the African Union (AU) and the countries covered by the ENP that share common interests, values and problems could give rise to a dynamic for the entire Mediterranean region;










9.


Denounces the arms sales and largesse granted for the benefit of economic-strategic interests, and the friendly relations maintained with dictators for many years by some EU and ACP countries; applauds the self-determination of these peoples and condemns the violence they suffer;










10.


Calls on the European Union to carry out an in-depth evaluation and reform of both its diplomatic policy and the nature of its political, trade and cooperation relations with the countries of North Africa and the Middle East;










11.


Together with the Pan-African Parliament, calls on all members of the African Union to ratify the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance;










12.


Recalls that any armed intervention must be undertaken with the sole aim of protecting civilians and must be impartial, and that its initiators may under no circumstances assume the right to determine who can govern and who must be excluded;










13.


Encourages the African Union, the Arab League and the European Union to make all necessary financial and human resources available to support a robust international humanitarian operation in the countries concerned, in order to assist the UNHCR and other relevant humanitarian agencies in providing protection and emergency assistance to all those in need;










14.


Reiterates the importance of respecting and accepting the choice of the people and the results of elections, regardless of who wins, provided that the elections are democratic, free, fair and transparent;










15.


Welcomes the progress made by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council and the Tunisian and Egyptian authorities, and encourages the continuation of the efforts to put in place a process of democratic stabilisation and to guarantee freedom, fundamental and human rights, peace and justice;










16.


Calls on the European Commission and the countries concerned to continue their efforts, while ensuring that a common strategy, including adequate financial, human and technical resources, is put in place to guarantee that the EU can respond appropriately in the event of any mass migratory movement, in accordance with Article 80 TFEU;










17.


Calls for strict compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973(2011), aimed at protecting the civilian population;










18.


Urges the leaders concerned to show restraint in the use of force and to engage in talks aimed at reaching a positive outcome to the crisis, and deplores any collateral loss of human life;










19.


Insists that the African Union be involved in the search for solutions that are acceptable to all parties;










20.


Calls on the United Nations, the African Union, the European Union, the Arab League and the coalition to hold a round table with a view to finding a way out of the crisis that will bring about lasting peace and the establishment of democracy in Libya;










21.


Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the European Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the EU Member States, the institutions of the African Union, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the General Assembly of the United Nations, the President of the Pan-African Parliament, the governments and parliaments of the countries of the Middle East and the countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy, and the Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean.






BUDAPEST DECLARATION
on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, 2011
The 21st Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to 18 May 2011:






A.


whereas aid effectiveness is about improving lives, cutting poverty and achieving the MDGs,










B.


whereas the Fourth High Level Forum (HLF-4) on Aid Effectiveness, due to take place in Busan, South Korea, from 29 November to 1 December 2011, will conclude the OECD/DAC-led process on aid effectiveness that was launched by the Paris Declaration in 2005 (PD) and followed by the Accra Agenda for Action of 2008 (AAA),










C.


whereas HLF-4 will also chart future directions for more effective development aid and contribute to a new international aid architecture up to the MDG deadline of 2015 and beyond,










D.


whereas the EU and its Member States provide more than half the world’s Official Development Assistance (ODA), and thus constitute a significant player in the aid effectiveness agenda,










E.


whereas Article 208 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union commits the EU to striving for policy coherence in relation to development,










F.


whereas the Second Revision of the Cotonou Agreement, signed in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on 23 June 2010, subscribes to the aid effectiveness agenda (Preamble, paragraph 12a and Part 1, Article 2) as committed to in the PD on Aid Effectiveness and the AAA; whereas the primary objective of the Cotonou Agreement is the reduction and eventual eradication of poverty,










G.


whereas substantial improvements have been made with respect to aid effectiveness, but whereas there is still a long way to go; whereas the continuation of the aid effectiveness agenda is indispensible for ensuring the implementation of existing commitments, particularly in light of the financial crisis, and for considering different and new dimensions of aid and development effectiveness,










1.


Stresses that HLF-4 should go beyond a stocktaking exercise and move from pledges to tangible achievements on the implementation of the aid effectiveness agenda, and expects the EU and ACP countries to play a leadership role in achieving this;










2.


Recalls the importance of policy coherence for development and of actively promoting common values such as human rights, social justice, the fight against corruption, accountability and gender equality within the aid effectiveness agenda;




I.   Predictability of aid







3.


Calls on donors to take immediate action on PD and AAA commitments that are hampered only by political will and bureaucracy, e.g. untying aid, predictability of aid, conditionality and transparency;










4.


Calls on donor countries to uphold their commitment to providing 0,7 % of GDP/GNI for development aid and to tightening up the definition of ODA;










5.


Calls on donors to increase the predictability of aid through reliable multiannual timetables of their financial flows and long-term development agreements with partner countries, based on mutual accountability for development;










6.


Recalls the need, in order to achieve the MDGs, to use innovative financing methods, such as the levying of a tax on financial transactions,










7.


Calls on donors to better coordinate and harmonise their actions, and to simplify their procedures;




II.   Alignment of aid, use of country systems and country ownership







8.


Recognises the importance of alignment of aid and use of country systems for the distribution of development aid and in building partner country capacity, promoting ownership, increasing transparency and mutual accountability, and facilitating partner country parliamentary scrutiny;










9.


Calls on partner countries to implement a legal framework for the incorporation of aid into the national budget, in order to allow parliamentary scrutiny of aid spending and increased accountability;










10.


Calls on donors to increase the proportion of country programmable aid in order to develop country capacity and ownership;










11.


Stresses that budget support is one of the best ways to increase aid effectiveness, but that it should be based on national development funding and poverty reduction plans; encourages the Commission to maintain its dynamic approach on eligibility criteria and to promote a collective EU target for budget support;










12.


Calls on donors and partner countries to rapidly implement transparency actions for country-level aid, as ownership is not possible without knowledge;










13.


Takes the view that taxation guarantees an independent financial source for sustainable development and constitutes an important link between the governments and citizens of developing countries; calls for the introduction of a viable form of fiscal administration based on taxpayers’ ability to pay; recommends that the fight against tax havens – as distinct from jurisdictions with low rates of tax –, tax evasion and illegal transfer of capital be intensified, and that natural resources be transparently managed;




III.   The role of Parliaments







14.


Emphasises the leading role that national parliaments should play, given that they are in the best position to identify priority sectors, check Country Strategy Papers and audit budget appropriations; calls for the national parliaments to adopt Country Strategy Papers and the annual budget after consulting civil society in advance of the political dialogue with the donor countries, with a view to giving full force to democratic control;










15.


Urges parliaments to provide for checks and balances through the scrutiny of budgets, policies and their outcomes and by involving citizens in decision-making through the democratic process;










16.


Recalls that parliaments in developing countries lack basic capacities to exercise their role fully; calls on donors, therefore, to provide assistance for capacity building and development at national and regional levels;










17.


Proposes that parliamentary capacity be adopted as an indicator of aid and development effectiveness and measured over time in the knowledge that it contributes to sound financial management, sustainable political stability and economic success;










18.


Recalls that ownership should allow partner countries to define their own political priorities;




IV.   Engagement of non-state actors and local authorities







19.


Calls on the EU and the partner countries to deepen and broaden the structured dialogue process for civil society organisation (CSO) and local authority engagement so as to ensure their full and meaningful participation in the planning, implementation, monitoring and assessment of budgets and programmes;










20.


Stresses that the territorial approach and multi-level governance are key elements in more effective development strategies; calls therefore on the EU and the partner countries to take better account of territories as a sphere of public action;










21.


Calls on donors and partner countries to fully evaluate and deepen the Paris and Accra commitments through reforms based on democratic ownership and support for CSOs and local authorities;










22.


Also underlines the role of independent legal systems and free media in fostering good governance and accountability;




V.   New development partnerships







23.


Recognises that 72 % of the world’s poorest people live in middle-income countries (MICs) (13); recognises that MICs require a different form of development partnership that focuses more on inclusive growth, economic diversification, redistribution of wealth, and the promotion of development effectiveness through South-South cooperation and of peer learning and sharing of development experience;










24.


Recalls the need for aid adapted to the specificities and needs of fragile states, lower-income post-conflict countries and small island developing states (SIDs), and for strengthened efforts to cooperate with the poorest countries;










25.


Calls for aid to target the poorest people and not just the poorest countries;










26.


Emphasises that aid should be looked upon as a catalyst, and not a means, of development; recognises that the ultimate purpose of aid is to attain a state where aid is no longer necessary;




VI.   Division of labour







27.


Calls on the EU to take a leading role on division of labour (DoL) in the context of HLF-4 and to step up its efforts to increase donor coordination and DoL, accompanied by measures in favour of democratic ownership, the assumption of responsibility and better aid quality;










28.


Stresses the need to solve the problems of so-called ‘darling’ and ‘orphan’ countries and neglect of crucial sectors such as health, education, social cohesion and gender equality;










29.


Welcomes the adoption of the EU Code of Conduct on Division of Labour in Development Policy by the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 15 May 2007 and points out that the EU’s failure to fully implement the principles contained in the Code of Conduct on Division of Labour (DoL) misses the opportunity to make savings of up to EUR 6 billion (14);










30.


Calls for the EU to revise its DoL policies to ensure that non-sector-specific, cross-cutting issues such as human rights and gender equality are not neglected;




VII.   Private sector as a development actor







31.


Recognises the growing involvement of private sector stakeholders in development partnerships; recognises the benefits of incorporating private sector development aid into aid effectiveness agreements, but also the need to clarify what roles the private sector could and should play and to link them to the achievement of MDGs and to sustainable development, as well as to the primary responsibility of the public sector; underlines the importance of not moving back to tied aid in this context;










32.


Emphasises the importance of transparency and assessment of the impact of private sector development actors on development outcomes;










33.


Calls on donors to utilise aid to catalyse development of the domestic private sector, improve domestic regulatory institutions for the private sector and promote private sector development that incorporates the poorest populations and contributes to development objectives;




VIII.   Beyond Busan







34.


Emphasises the importance of sustaining momentum on aid and development effectiveness beyond Busan;










35.


Recommends continuing to monitor and evaluate the implementation of, and progress towards, the commitments of the PD and the AAA; recommends that the next survey be conducted to coincide with the deadline of the MDGs in order to complement global reviews of development progress at this time;










36.


Emphasises the importance of embedding aid effectiveness in a development effectiveness framework that prioritises overall development outcomes and includes policy coherence for development and the involvement of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in order to better take into account the regional dimensions of aid and development effectiveness;










37.


Requests that an inclusive ‘Busan Compact’ be launched at HLF-4, which brings together specific time-bound commitments and initiates fundamental reforms in the global governance of development cooperation;










38.


Notes the emergence of new development actors, including individual countries whose approach is not governed by European cooperation standards, and calls for a political, inclusive approach to those countries with a view to achieving a transparent overall development-cooperation dynamic.






DECLARATION
Uniting for Universal Access in view of the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS in June
Having regard to the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS, New York, 8-10 June, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly meeting in Budapest (Hungary) from 16 to 18 May:






1.


Recalls that the goal of scaling up towards and sustaining universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support is enshrined as a key development priority in Article 31bis of the revised Cotonou Agreement;










2.


Stresses that, thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, the AIDS response has demonstrated its value as a high impact investment which has yielded returns for HIV, as well as for larger goals of health, development and human rights, and over the last 10 years the rate of new HIV infections fell in many countries, the number of people on antiretroviral treatment has increased, as well as the coverage of services to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Still the gains are insufficient and fragile;










3.


Therefore calls on the ACP and EU governments to step up efforts in their cooperation to support the ACP States in scaling up and sustaining universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support as a key condition to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015;










4.


Calls upon the ACP and EU Parties – governments of the ACP States and the EU Member States as well as the European Commission and the European External Action Service – to be represented at the highest level at the 2011 High Level Meeting on AIDS, to support the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General report and adopt his proposal of the six global goals for 2015;










5.


Calls on the EU to uphold its leadership role in the AIDS response, notably by initiating a broad and consultative process with all stakeholders, including EU Member States, Parliamentarians, the Civil Society, for the preparation of a geographically comprehensive European Programme for Action to Confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis through External Action for 2012 and beyond;










6.


Calls on ACP and EU governments to promote the inclusion of anti-stigma strategies into national AIDS programmes, also through community systems strengthening; to remove punitive laws, policies, practices, stigma and discrimination that undermine human rights and increase vulnerability to HIV/AIDS; to commit to the provision of comprehensive care and support services for adults and children living with and affected by HIV, including caregivers;










7.


Calls on the EU and ACP governments to redouble allocations for HIV prevention, and focus prevention investments on integrated and evidence-based prevention programmes targeting the populations who are most at risk and most vulnerable, as one of the most cost-effective interventions, as well as to intensify investment in the research;










8.


Stresses that treatment is a high impact investment that reduces HIV transmission, tuberculosis and maternal and child deaths. Therefore calls on the ACP and EU government to support innovation in treatment access, eliminate legal barriers and ensure universal and reliable access to safe, high quality and more affordable medicines, build the capacity of health and community systems to deliver and support integrated treatment services, and coherently address HIV and TB co-infections;










9.


Calls on the EU and ACP governments to promote the integration of HIV and reproductive, maternal and new born health services as a key measure to achieving the MDGs by 2015, notably through the EU MDG Initiative. In that regard, particular attention should be paid to strengthening health and community systems to deliver effective integration of HIV and sexual and reproductive health programmes and linking programmes to support stronger inter-related outcomes across all health-related MDGs;










10.


Calls upon ACP and EU governments to meet fair-share commitments to reach the investment needs for health in general and the global AIDS response in particular, whereby the EU Member States realise their long-term predictable financing commitments, while domestic investment in developing countries is significantly scaled up to allow for the implementation of the Abuja Declaration Call for 15 % of the National Budget to health, emerging powers are encouraged to assume their share, and innovative financing mechanisms are expanded.






AMENDMENTS TO THE RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY SUBMITTED BY THE BUREAU IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 34 OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE

Rules of procedure of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

Article 1
Joint Parliamentary Assembly
1.   The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly 
(hereinafter ‘the Assembly’)
 is set up pursuant to Article 17 of the Partnership Agreement between the Members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European 
Union
 and its Member States, of the other part.
2.   The Assembly shall be composed of 
two houses containing
 equal numbers of EU and ACP representatives. The members of the Assembly shall be, on the one hand, members of the European Parliament and, on the other, members of parliament or, failing this, 
in exceptional cases such as force majeure, notice of which must be communicated in writing in advance to the Bureau of the Assembly as referred to in Article 2 (hereinafter ‘the Bureau’)
, representatives designated by the parliament of each ACP State. In the absence of a parliament, the attendance without the right to vote of a representative from the ACP State concerned shall be subject to the prior approval of the Assembly
3.   The credentials of the members of the Assembly shall be established by a letter of appointment from the appropriate authorities of the respective States in the case of ACP representatives and from the President of the European Parliament in the case of its representatives.
Article 2
Bureau
1.   
Each house
 shall elect 
its members to the
 Bureau 
in accordance with its own
 practice.
2.   The Bureau shall consist of two Co-Presidents of equal status, and 24 Vice-Presidents. Half of the members of the Bureau shall be nominated by the representatives of the ACP States and half by the representatives of the European Parliament, in accordance with a procedure laid down by each of the two houses.
3.   The Bureau shall prepare the work of the Assembly, follow up the activities and resolutions of the Assembly and establish all necessary contacts with the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and the ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors.
4.   The Bureau shall be responsible for the coordination of the work of the Assembly.
5.   The Bureau shall meet, on the initiative of its Co-Presidents, 
at least four times
 a year; 
two of the meetings shall take place in the days preceding
 the sessions of the Assembly.
6.   The Bureau shall submit to the Assembly the proposed agenda for the debates. It shall be responsible for ensuring that, as far as possible, half the items on the agenda concern matters of common interest.
It may propose a limitation of speaking time for debates.
7.   The Bureau shall be responsible for matters relating to the composition and the responsibilities of the standing committees referred to in Article 25 (‘the standing committees’).
8.   The Bureau shall be responsible for authorising the standing committees to draw up reports and motions for resolutions.
9.   The Bureau may also refer matters for consideration by the standing committees, which may subsequently request authorisation to draw up a report on a particular topic.
10.   The Bureau shall be responsible for monitoring the follow-up to resolutions and decisions of the Assembly. In the case of resolutions tabled by a standing committee, it may delegate responsibility for monitoring the follow-up to the chairman and rapporteur of the standing committee concerned.
11.   The meetings of the Bureau shall not be public. 
The Council of the European Union, the ACP Council of Ministers and the European Commission may be invited to attend for items concerning their respective areas of responsibility
.
12.   
The Bureau shall adopt its own rules of procedure.


Article 3
Attendance of other institutions
1.   The ACP-EU Council of Ministers, 
as provided for in Article 15 of the Partnership Agreement
, shall 
be invited to report to
 the Assembly 
at least once per year
.
2.   The ACP Council of Ministers and the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, as well as the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, may attend sessions of the Assembly at the invitation of the Bureau.
Article 4
Observers
1.   In the event of the accession of another State to the Partnership Agreement and pending ratification of the Partnership Agreement by that State, a representative thereof may attend sessions of the Assembly as an observer. States which are members of the ACP Group may attend sessions of the Assembly as observers.
2.   
The participation of
 representatives of civil society 
in
 the sessions of the Assembly, the meetings of the standing committees and the regional parliamentary meetings of the Assembly 
shall be considered and, where appropriate, approved by the Bureau on a case-by-case basis
.
3.   The 
Co-Presidents
 may, with the agreement of the Bureau, invite other organisations or persons to attend sessions of the Assembly, meetings of the standing committees and regional parliamentary meetings as 
observers
.
4.   Observers shall not have the right to vote. They may, 
on a case-by-case basis
, address the session 
or committee meetings
, with the agreement of the Assembly 
or the Bureau of the committee concerned, respectively
.
Article 5
Sessions of the Assembly
1.   The Assembly shall meet twice a year 
for a period of three days
; its sessions shall be convened by its Co-Presidents and it shall meet alternately in an ACP State and a Member State of the 
European Union, if possible the one holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union
.
2.   Consideration shall be given in turn to each of the ACP groups of states and the Member States of the 
European Union
 when deciding on the venue of the sessions.
3.   An extraordinary session of the Assembly may be convened by the Co-Presidents at the request of the Bureau or of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers.
Article 6
Regional meetings of the Assembly
1.   In accordance with Article 17(3) of the Partnership Agreement, the Assembly may hold regional parliamentary meetings. Such meetings shall be decided upon the request of the Bureau or of the regions concerned.
2.   For the purposes of these Rules of Procedure ‘region’ shall mean entities to be defined by the national parliaments of the ACP States. Any such defined entities shall be presented for the Assembly’s final approval.
3.   One member of parliament from each ACP State in the region and an equivalent number of members of the European Parliament shall participate in regional meetings.
4.   The Assembly shall hold no more than 
three
 regional meetings a year, 
lasting for up to three days each. If more than two are held, one of them shall take place in the margins of the session held in an ACP State. Those meetings shall adopt conclusions in the form of a communiqué. These Rules of Procedure shall apply mutatis mutandis to regional meetings
.
5.   Regional meetings 
shall focus on matters of regional and topical interest, in particular the Regional and Country Strategy Papers for the region concerned. A follow-up report relating to each regional meeting shall be presented to the subsequent Assembly session
.
Article 7
Agenda
1.   The Bureau shall prepare the draft agenda of the session. The Co-Presidents shall submit that draft to the Assembly for its approval. Subjects shall relate to development cooperation between the European Union and the ACP States in the framework of the Partnership Agreement.
The draft agenda of each session shall include 
the following
 categories of topic:






(i)


reports submitted by the standing committees. These will be limited to three per session. The length of the motions for resolution contained in the reports is laid down in Annex II to these Rules of Procedure;










(ii)


urgent topics, proposed by a standing committee or submitted by the Bureau itself. Urgent topics shall only be included on an exceptional basis and may not exceed two per session. 
Other topics shall be forwarded to the standing committee responsible
;










(iii)




a keynote topic for a high-level debate.






2.   On urgent topics, a motion for a resolution may be tabled by a representative of the ACP States, a political group or ten members. Motions for resolutions must be limited to the urgent topics entered on the draft agenda for the session and may not exceed the length laid down in Annex II. Motions for resolutions must be tabled no later than four weeks prior to the opening of the session at which they are to be debated and voted on.
3.   
In cases of urgency, the Co-Presidents may update the draft agenda between meetings of the Bureau through the written and/or silence procedure.


4.   Motions for resolutions on urgent topics shall be submitted to the Bureau. The Bureau shall check that each motion for a resolution that meets the criteria set out in paragraph 2 is entered on the agenda and is available in English and French. The Bureau’s proposals shall be submitted to the Assembly for approval.
5.   The Bureau shall forward the motions for resolutions on urgent topics to the committee responsible, for information.
Article 8
Quorum
1.   A quorum of the Assembly shall be attained when a third of the representatives both of the ACP States and of the European Parliament are present.
2.   All votes shall be valid whatever the number of voters unless the President, on a request made by at least ten members before a vote has begun, ascertains that the quorum is not present at the moment of voting. If the quorum is not present, the vote shall be placed on the agenda for the next sitting.
Article 9
Presidency of sittings
1.   The Co-Presidents shall jointly decide which of them is to preside at each sitting of the Assembly.
2.   The President shall open, adjourn and close the sittings of the Assembly. The President shall ensure the Rules of Procedure are observed, maintain order, call upon speakers, close debates, put matters to the vote and announce the results of the vote.
3.   The President may speak in a debate only to sum up or to call speakers to order; should he/she wish to take part in a debate, he/she shall vacate the chair.
4.   Either Co-President may elect to be replaced in the chair by a Vice-President.
Article 10
Seating arrangements
Members shall be seated in alphabetical order, by name in the case of representatives of the European Parliament and by country in the case of ACP representatives, 
the starting letter to change to the next consecutive letter of the alphabet for each session
.
Article 11
Official languages
1.   The official languages of the Assembly shall be Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish and Swedish.


For all meetings held at the European Parliament’s normal places of work, interpretation facilities shall be provided in all the working languages of the members of the European Parliament actually present. For all meetings held outside the European Parliament’s normal places of work, interpretation facilities shall be provided in accordance with the relevant internal rules of the European Parliament, as contained in the Rules governing meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and its Bodies, laid down in the decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 10 February 2003. Translation services shall be provided during each meeting in English and French.


2.   Acts adopted by the Assembly shall be published in the official languages. Preparatory documents and working documents shall be published in at least English and French.
Article 12
Public nature of proceedings
Sessions of the Assembly shall be public unless it decides otherwise.
Article 13
Minutes
1.   The minutes of proceedings of each sitting, containing the decisions of the Assembly and the names of speakers, shall be distributed at the next sitting.
2.   The minutes of proceedings shall be published by the European Parliament in the Official Journal of the 
European Union
 and by the ACP States in whatever form each of them may deem appropriate. 
The minutes of the last sitting of the session shall be submitted for approval at the start of the next session and any corrections thereto shall be published by the European Parliament in the Official Journal of the European Union and by the ACP States in whatever form each of them may deem appropriate
.
Article 14
Co-Presidents’ statements and press releases
1.   
The Co-Presidents may, wherever possible after consulting the members of the Bureau through the written and/or silence procedure, issue joint urgent statements on any matter concerning the ACP-EU Partnership. Such statements shall be based on any existing resolutions and declarations. Once they have been issued, the Co-Presidents shall first inform the Bureau thereof with a view to their being discussed and, as soon as possible thereafter, all the members of the Assembly.


2.   
Press releases shall be drawn up in English and French. They shall not rank as official documents.


Article 15
Right to speak
1.   A member of the Assembly may speak only if called upon to do so by the President. Representatives of countries named in resolutions 
or during debates shall
 have the right to reply within their allocated time-limit.
2.   
Speaking time in debates in the Assembly shall be divided equally between representatives of the European Parliament and of the ACP States.
 On a proposal from the President, the Assembly may decide to limit speaking time. 
Members may present written contributions supplementing their statements, limited to 2 000 characters. Written contributions shall be archived in their original language
.
3.   For members of the European Parliament, speaking time will be allocated in accordance with the d’Hondt system.
4.   Members of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers or their designated representatives and representatives of the bodies and institutions referred to in Article 3(2) shall be heard at their request.
5.   A speaker shall not be interrupted except by the President if he exceeds his allocated speaking time, except in compliance with paragraph 6.
6.   If a speaker departs from the subject, the President shall call him to order. If the speaker persists in departing from the subject, the President may forbid him to speak for such time as he thinks fit.
Article 16
Right to vote and methods of voting
1.   Each member with a right to vote shall have a single, non-transferable vote.
2.   Normally the Assembly shall vote by show of hands. If the result of the show of hands is doubtful, a fresh vote shall be taken using coloured cards, or by an electronic vote.
3.   If a request has been submitted in writing 
by 10 a.m. on the day of the vote
 by no fewer than ten members, the Assembly shall vote by secret ballot.
4.   A decision shall be deemed to have been adopted only if it has secured a majority of the votes cast. If a request has been submitted 
by 10 a.m. on the day of the vote
 by no fewer than five members, for a vote by separate houses, a vote shall be taken in which the 
members of the parliaments
 of the ACP 
States
 and the 
members
 of the European Parliament shall vote by separate houses with the order of vote alternating between them. In that case, the text in question shall be deemed to be adopted only if it secures a majority of the votes cast by both the 
members of the parliaments of the
 ACP 
States
 and the 
members of the
 European Parliament participating in the vote.
5.   In the event of a tie, the motion shall not be adopted. It may be tabled again at the next session of the Assembly.
6.   If a request has been submitted 
by 10 a.m. on the day of the vote
 by no fewer than five members, the Assembly shall vote on separate parts of the text of a paragraph or an amendment.
7.   Any request tabled in accordance with paragraphs 3, 4 and 6 may be withdrawn by its authors at any time before the vote.
Article 17
Explanations of vote
Any member may give an oral explanation on the final vote for no longer than one minute and a half or give a written explanation of no more than 200 words. 
Written explanations shall be archived in their original language
.
Article 18
Assembly resolutions
1.   The Assembly shall vote on motions for resolutions included in reports submitted by the standing committees, in accordance with Article 7.
2.   The Assembly shall also vote on any motions for resolutions on urgent topics, in accordance with Article 7.
3.   The President shall invite the authors of any motions for resolutions on a similar urgent topic to draw up a compromise motion. At the end of the debate, each compromise motion for a resolution and the amendments thereto shall be put to the vote in the Assembly. Once a compromise motion for a resolution has been adopted, all other motions tabled on the same topic shall fall.
4.   Resolutions adopted by the Assembly shall be forwarded to the European Commission and the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and to any other interested parties. The European Commission and the ACP-EU Council of Ministers shall report on follow-up to adopted resolutions at the next session of the Assembly.
Article 19
Amendments
1.   An ACP representative with the right to vote, a political group or ten members may table amendments. Amendments shall relate to the text it is sought to alter and shall be submitted in writing. The President shall decide, on the basis of these criteria, whether they are admissible.
2.   The deadline for the tabling of amendments shall be announced at the beginning of the session.
3.   When a vote is being taken, amendments shall have priority over the text to which they relate.
4.   If two or more amendments have been tabled to the same part of a text, the amendment that departs furthest in content from the original text shall be put to the vote first. Only oral amendments which correct factual mistakes or language may be taken. All other oral amendments will be by leave of the Assembly. An oral amendment shall not be taken if it is objected to by ten members standing.
Article 20
Questions for written answer
1.   Any member of the Assembly may put questions for written answer to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers or the European Commission.
2.   The questions shall be submitted in writing to the Bureau, which shall decide whether they are admissible and, if such is the case, forward them to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers or the European Commission, as applicable. The ACP-EU Council of Ministers or the European Commission shall be invited to give a written answer within a period of two months from the date on which the question was forwarded to it.
3.   Questions to which an answer has been given shall be published, together with the answers thereto, by the European Parliament in the Official Journal of the European Union
 and by the ACP States in whatever form each of them may deem appropriate.
4.   Questions to which no answer has been given within the set time-limit shall be published, with an indication that no answer has yet been given, in the same manner.
Article 21
Questions for oral answer
1.   Question Time to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission shall be held at each session at such times as may be decided by the Bureau, so as to ensure the presence of both those institutions at the highest level.
2.   Each member of the Assembly may put one question for oral answer to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and one to the European Commission. On multiple named questions only one member will be called.
3.   The questions shall be submitted in writing to the Bureau by the deadline set by the latter.
4.   In urgent cases, and with the agreement of the institution to which the questions are addressed, the Co-Presidents or the Bureau may decide to place a question on the agenda even if the deadline set by the Bureau has expired.
5.   The Co-Presidents of the Assembly shall decide as to the admissibility of questions for oral answer. This shall be governed by the scope and terms of the Partnership Agreement. Questions relating to subjects which are already included in the agenda for discussion shall be declared inadmissible. Questions declared admissible shall be forwarded to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers or the European Commission. The Co-Presidents shall decide as to the order in which questions are taken. The author shall be notified immediately of their decision.
6.   Questions shall not be more than 100 words long. The question must be in the form of a question and not a statement.
7.   The Assembly shall set aside not more than two hours during each session for dealing with questions for oral answer. Questions that remain unanswered for lack of time shall be answered in writing unless the author withdraws his question.
8.   A question may be answered only if its author is present or has notified the Co-Presidents in writing, before question time begins, of the name of his substitute.
9.   If neither the author nor his substitute is present, the question shall be answered in writing.
10.   The ACP-EU Council of Ministers or the European Commission shall be invited to give a brief answer. After an answer has been given, one brief supplementary question may be put by the author of the original question, if time permits. The President may refuse any question which does not relate to the original question.
11.   At the request of ten or more members of the Assembly, the answer given by the ACP-EU Council of Ministers or the European Commission may be followed by a debate. The President shall set a time-limit for that debate.
Article 22
Report on the activities of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers
The report on the activities of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, which shall deal inter alia with measures taken pursuant to the resolutions of the Assembly, shall be printed in the official languages and distributed.
Article 23
Scrutiny of the implementation of the Partnership Agreement
On a proposal from the Bureau, the Assembly may appoint one ACP and one EU co-rapporteur to draw up a report on a specific region, or on any other matter relating to the implementation of the Partnership Agreement.
Article 24
Requests from the ACP-EU Council of Ministers for an opinion
1.   If the Assembly is asked to deliver an opinion on a decision or a proposed decision, resolution, recommendation or opinion of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers, the request in that regard shall be submitted to the Bureau, which shall place the matter before the Assembly with a recommendation.
2.   The Bureau may give a final ruling on a matter declared urgent by the ACP-EU Council of Ministers.
Article 25
Standing committees
1.   The Assembly shall set up three standing committees responsible for the following areas in the context of the implementation of the Partnership Agreement:






—


promoting democratic processes through dialogue and consultation;










—


economic, financial and trade matters and implementation of the European Development Fund;










—


social and environmental issues.




2.   In line with the general arrangements for the functioning of the Assembly, the standing committees shall be composed of members of the Assembly, in accordance with Article 1, and shall function in a strictly joint manner.
3.   The rules of procedure of the standing committees shall be adopted by the Assembly on a proposal from the Bureau.
Article 26
Temporary follow-up committees
1.   The Bureau may, on a proposal from the Assembly, set up temporary follow-up committees on specific subjects related to the Partnership Agreement or matters covered by it. Not more than two such committees may be operational at the same time. Follow-up committees must complete their work within one year.
2.   The Bureau shall determine their responsibilities, composition and mandate.
Article 27
Workshops
1.   With a view to facilitating ‘greater understanding between the peoples of the European Union and those of the ACP States and raising public awareness of development issues’, the Assembly shall organise workshops at regular intervals in both the European Union and the ACP States.
2.   The workshops shall be organised under the responsibility of the Bureau and shall, in particular, provide an opportunity to invite persons able to give the Assembly first-hand information about political, economic, social and cultural situations that are of concern.
Article 28
Missions and delegations
1.   The Bureau may decide to send fact-finding missions to ACP States or EU Member States or to international organisations, subject to budgetary constraints. The Bureau or the Assembly may also decide to send 
joint
 delegations for the observation of presidential or parliamentary elections, at the invitation of the country concerned, provided that there are no concerns about security 
and that, in the case of members of the European Parliament, this is compatible with the internal rules of the European Parliament
. Furthermore, in accordance with the principle of close cooperation laid down in Article 29, the Bureau may send delegations to meetings of the European Economic and Social Committee and of the social partners, including those held outside Brussels.


A report shall be submitted to the Bureau and to the subsequent session of the Assembly. There shall be a concrete follow-up at the next Bureau meeting to the recommendations made in the report.


2.   The Co-Presidents or their Vice-Presidents may attend high-level meetings 
or meetings of international parliamentary bodies
 when invited to participate in their official capacity, either singly or jointly, on behalf of the Assembly. Such missions must represent the Assembly as a whole and the activities entailed must reflect shared ACP-EU interests.
Article 29
Consultation with civil society
The Assembly shall take steps to ensure that the ACP States and the European Union have regular contacts and consultations with representatives of the ACP-EU economic and social partners and other representatives of civil society, in order to obtain their views on the attainment of the objectives of the Partnership Agreement. Those representatives of civil society shall have the opportunity to attend regional meetings and standing committee meetings and to take part in workshops. The Bureau shall examine, in each case, the conditions under which invitations should be addressed to them.
Article 30
Honorary President
On a proposal from the Bureau, and in exceptional cases, the Assembly may confer the title of Honorary President on one of its former Co-Presidents. This honour shall be a mark of recognition by the Assembly of the distinguished service rendered by the person concerned, during his/her membership of the Assembly, to the cause of the Assembly.
Article 31
Secretariat
The Secretary-General of the European Parliament and the Secretary-General of the ACP General Secretariat shall take all necessary steps to assist the Assembly and to ensure that it functions smoothly. They shall be answerable to the Bureau.
Article 32
Financial regulation
The Assembly shall adopt its financial regulation on the basis of proposals from the Bureau.
Article 33
Interpretation of the Rules of Procedure
The President – or, at his request, the Bureau – shall rule on questions relating to the interpretation of these Rules of Procedure.
Article 34
Points of order
1.   A member may raise a point of order or move a procedural motion and shall have a prior right to speak. He may speak on the point of order or procedural motion for not more than two minutes.
2.   The President may, on request, give the floor to one speaker against the motion for not more than two minutes.
3.   No further speakers shall be heard.
4.   The President shall announce his decision on the point of order or procedural motion. He may first consult the Bureau.
Article 35
Revision of the Rules of Procedure
1.   Amendments to these Rules of Procedure shall be decided on by the Assembly on the basis of proposals from the Bureau, having consulted the Committee on Political Affairs.
2.   Amendments shall be adopted only if they obtain the majority of the votes of each of the two groups of representatives in the Assembly.
3.   Unless otherwise specified when the vote is taken, amendments to these Rules shall enter into force on the first day of the session following their adoption.


ANNEX I

Powers, responsibilities, membership and procedures of standing committees

Article 1
There shall be three standing parliamentary committees with the following powers and responsibilities:






I.



COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL AFFAIRS

This committee is responsible for matters relating to:






1.


Political dialogue (Article 8 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement), development and institutional matters;










2.


Respect for and the promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance (Article 9 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










3.


Peace-building policies and conflict prevention and resolution (Article 11 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










4.


Issues concerning migration (Article 13 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










5.


Assembly relations with relevant international organisations.




This committee will coordinate the work of fact-finding missions, including those sent to monitor elections, in accordance with Article 28 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.










II.



COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FINANCE AND TRADE

This committee is responsible for matters relating to:






1.


Economic development and trade cooperation, as well as capacity-building for development and partnership;










2.


Macroeconomic and structural reforms, economic sector development and tourism (Articles 22 to 24 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










3.


New ACP-EU trading arrangements, market access and the gradual integration of ACP States into the world economy (Articles 34 to 37 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










4.


Trade and labour standards (Article 50 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










5.


Rural development, fisheries and food security (Articles 53 and 54 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










6.


All issues concerning development finance cooperation including follow-up of the implementation of the European Development Fund.














III.



COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

This committee is responsible for matters relating to:






1.


Social and human development;










2.


Social infrastructure and services, including health and education issues (Article 25 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










3.


Youth and cultural issues (Articles 26 and 27 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










4.


Gender issues (Article 31 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement);










5.


Environment and natural resources (Article 32 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement).








Article 2
1.   Each member of the Assembly shall have the right to be a member of one of the standing committees.
2.   The committees shall be composed of 52 members and shall consist of equal numbers of, on the one hand, members of the European Parliament and, on the other, members of parliament from ACP States. Should the number of ACP States increase, the number of places on the standing committees will increase pro rata.
3.   Members may also attend meetings of committees to which they do not belong in an advisory capacity or if the subject under discussion covers their country or region, if invited by the Committee Bureau.
4.   The participation of representatives who are not members of a parliament shall only be allowed if the subject under discussion covers their country, but they will not have the right to vote.
5.   Unless a committee decides otherwise, all meetings shall be public.
Article 3
1.   The composition of the committees shall, as far as possible, reflect the composition of the Assembly.
2.   The committees shall elect a Committee Bureau from amongst their members for a period of one year.
3.   The Committee Bureau shall consist of two co-chairs (one representative of the European Parliament and one representative of the ACP States) and four co-vice-chairs (two representatives of the ACP States and two representatives of the European Parliament).
4.   The committees shall be jointly chaired by a member of the European Parliament and by a member of parliament from an ACP State.
5.   The committees may appoint rapporteurs to examine specific questions within their competence and prepare reports to be submitted to the Assembly subject to authorisation from the Bureau, in accordance with Article 2 of the Rules of Procedure.
Motions for resolutions contained in reports may be accompanied by an explanatory statement, which shall not exceed four pages.
6.   The standing committees may discuss other agenda items without a report and advise the Bureau in writing that the said items were discussed.
7.   Committees shall also contribute to the dialogue with non-state actors, in accordance with Article 17(3) of the Partnership Agreement, in particular by means of hearings.
8.   The committees shall report to the Assembly on their activities.
Article 4
1.   Committees shall meet when convened by their co-chairs and for a maximum of four sessions per year, two of them during the session of the Assembly.
2.   Any member may table amendments for consideration in committee. As far as the procedure is concerned, Articles 3 (attendance of other institutions), 4 (observers), 8 (quorum), 9 (presidency of sittings), 16 (right to vote and methods of voting) and 29 (consultation with civil society) of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly shall apply mutatis mutandis to committee meetings.


ANNEX II

Length of texts

The following maximum lengths shall apply to texts submitted for translation and reproduction:






—


Explanatory statements, preparatory working documents and reports on fact-finding missions: six pages










—


Motions for resolutions contained in reports and urgent topics: four pages, including recitals but excluding citations




A page shall be taken to mean a text of 1 500 characters (not taking into account spaces).
This annex may be amended pursuant to a simple decision by the Bureau.



(1)  Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 May 2011 in Budapest (Hungary).

(2)  Pacific Islands, Australia and New Zealand Electoral Administrators’ Network.

(3)  Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 May 2011 in Budapest (Hungary).

(4)  OJ C 303, 09.11.2010, p. 243.

(5)  OJ C 61, 16.03.2009, p. 26.

(6)  Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 May 2011 in Budapest (Hungary).

(7)  Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 May 2011 in Budapest (Hungary).

(8)  Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 May 2011 in Budapest (Hungary).

(9)  COM(2011)207.

(10)  COM(2011)200 final.

(11)  Not yet published in the OJ.

(12)  Not yet published in the OJ.

(13)  Sumner, A (2011) ‘The New Bottom Billion: What If Most of the World’s Poor Live in Middle-Income Countries?’, Center for Global Development, CGD Brief March 2011, [Online] Available at: www.cgdev.org Accessed on 7 April 2011.

(14)  European Commission (2009) Aid Effectiveness Agenda: Benefits of a European Approach, A Study Prepared by HTSPE for the EC.