Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| 2.10.2014 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 345/9 |

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JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT CONCLUDED BETWEEN THE MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN, CARRIBBEAN AND PACIFIC GROUP OF STATES, OF THE ONE PART, AND THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITS MEMBER STATES, OF THE OTHER PART

MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF WEDNESDAY 19 MARCH 2014

2014/C 345/03

Contents

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| 1. | Statement by Kyriakos Gerontopoulos, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece and President-in-Office of the Council of the EU |

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| 2. | Statement by Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba, Deputy Minister of Finance of Tanzania and President-in-Office of the ACP Council |

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| 3. | Question Time with the Council |

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| 4. | Debate with the Council — ‘catch-the-eye’ procedure |

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| 5. | Challenges and opportunities in attaining goals in education and vocational training in ACP countries |

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| 6. | The state of play of WTO negotiations |

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| 7. | Vote on the motions for resolutions included in the reports by the three standing committees |

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| 8. | Vote on the urgent motions for resolutions |

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| 9. | Any other business |

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| 10. | Approval of the minutes of the afternoon sitting of Monday, 17 March 2014 and of the morning and afternoon sittings of Tuesday, 18 March 2014 |

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| 11. | Date and place of the 28th Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly |

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| Annex I | Alphabetical list of the members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly |

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| Annex II | Record of attendance at the session held in Strasbourg (France) from 17 to 19 March 2014 |

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| Annex III | Accreditation of non-parliamentary delegates |

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| Annex IV | Texts adopted |

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| — | Resolution on the global spread of terrorism: the role of the Internet and social media (ACP-EU/101.544/14/fin.) |

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| — | Resolution on regional integration and modernisation of customs for sustainable development in ACP countries, in cooperation with the EU (ACP-EU/101.547/14/fin.) |

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| — | Resolution on mining for oil and minerals on the seabed in the context of sustainable development (ACP-EU/101.546/14/fin.) |

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| — | Resolution on the human, economic and social rights of migrants in ACP and EU countries (ACP-EU 101.674/14/fin.) |

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| — | Resolution on the situation in the Central African Republic (ACP-EU/101.675/14/fin.) |

MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF WEDNESDAY, 19 MARCH 2014

(The sitting opened at 9.05 a.m.)

IN THE CHAIR: Fitz A. JACKSON

Co-President

1.   Statement by Kyriakos Gerontopoulos, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece and President-in-Office of the Council of the EU

Kyriakos Gerontopoulos outlined key issues of common interest to the EU and Africa, including those on the agenda of the EU-Africa Summit and the ACP-EU Council meeting to be held in June 2014. He presented the Presidency’s priorities, including the post-2015 development framework, migration, and private-sector contribution to development. He also highlighted the EU’s support for regional integration as foreseen in the programming of the 11th European Development Fund in the Pacific and Caribbean regions. Mr Gerontopoulos also emphasised that the relationship with the Caribbean was increasingly tied up with global issues such as security and climate.

2.   Statement by Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba, Deputy Minister of Finance of Tanzania and President-in-Office of the ACP Council

Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba highlighted the ACP group’s support for re-establishing peace and the rule of law in the Central African Republic, while also recognising the EU’s contribution and its support via the African Peace Facility. He noted that trade issues related to bananas, sugar and cotton were among the items that had been discussed by ACP Ministers, and stressed that the EU should address ACP concerns, also calling for subsidies for European cotton producers to be further decoupled from production. He highlighted progress in the negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements, while stressing that it remained important to address the concerns of developing countries even after the conclusion of agreements and to strengthen their development focus.

3.   Question Time with the Council

Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba responded on behalf of the ACP Council to the following questions:

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|  | Question 1 by Horst Schnellhardt on the situation in South Sudan; |

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|  | Question 3 by Mariya Gabriel on reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality in the Democratic Republic of Congo; |

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|  | Question 4 by Olle Schmidt on freedom of speech in ACP states. |

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|  | The authors of questions 1, 3 and 4 had no supplementary questions. |

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|  | The authors of questions 2 and 5 were not present. |

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|  | Kyriakos Gerontopoulos responded on behalf of the Council of the EU to the following questions and supplementary questions: |

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|  | Question 6 by Horst Schnellhardt on the situation in South Sudan; |

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|  | Question 7 by Enrique Guerrero Salom on the EU Special Representative for Sudan; |

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|  | Question 8 by Gay Mitchell on the conflict in the Central African Republic; |

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|  | Question 11 by Jo Leinen (replaced by Norbert Neuser) on the post-2015 development agenda; |

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|  | Question 13 by Mariya Gabriel on reducing maternal and infant mortality in the Democratic Republic of Congo; |

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|  | Question 14 by Patrice Tirolien (replaced by Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez) on development and climate change funding; |

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|  | Question 15 by James Kembi-Gitura (Kenya) on tax evasion by multinational corporations. |

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|  | The authors of questions 6, 13, 14 and 15 had no supplementary questions. |

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|  | The authors of questions 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16 were not present. |

4.   Debate with the Council —‘catch-the-eye’ procedure

Speakers: Musa Hussein Naib (Eritrea), Laurent N’Gon-Baba (Central African Republic) and Mohamed El Moctar Zamel (Mauritania).

Kyriakos Gerontopoulos took note of the Members’ appreciation of EU actions in the Central African Republic and the plea to speed up deployment of the EUFOR CAR mission. He stressed the importance of freedom of the media, including in publishing what politicians perceived to be unfair. In response to concerns regarding aid absorption capacity and burdensome procedures, he stressed that the Commission was in constant dialogue with beneficiary countries and that cooperation needed to be based on mutual agreement.

5.   Challenges and opportunities in attaining goals in education and vocational training in ACP countries

Debate without resolution

Alice P. Albright (Chief Executive Officer, The Global Partnership for Education) gave a presentation on the crisis in the financing of education and the economic and social costs of lack of quality education.

Speakers: Boniface Yehouetome (Benin), Mariya Gabriel, Enrique Guerrero Salom, Achille Marie Joseph Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Mo-Mamo Karerwa (Burundi), Koffi Didier Baudoua-Kouadio (Côte d’Ivoire), Musa Hussein Naib (Eritrea), Netty Baldeh (Gambia), Ousmane Kaba (Guinea), Abdikadir Omar Aden (Kenya), Ana Rita Geremias Sithole (Mozambique), Abdourahamane Chegou (Niger), Piet Van Der Walt (Namibia), Kennedy K. Hamudulu (Zambia), Edit Bauer and Luis Riera Figueras (European Commission).

ACP Members highlighted the efforts of their countries to improve education and stressed the need to increase investment in vocational training, focusing on teachers’ skills, increasing enrolment by abolishing fees, using new technologies and making pupils IT-literate in order to improve labour market access. Members spoke on better linking education and labour market integration, fostering entrepreneurial initiative, and ensuring both early childhood education to address inequalities and adult education for those who were unable to benefit from quality education in their youth.

6.   The state of play of WTO negotiations

Debate without resolution

Yonov Frederick Agah (WTO Deputy Director-General) gave a presentation on the subject of the ‘Bali package’ on trade facilitation, agriculture and development agreed at the 9th WTO Ministerial Conference in December 2013.

Speakers: Netty Baldeh (Gambia), Kennedy K. Hamudulu (Zambia), Olle Schmidt, Co-President Fitz A. Jackson, Yonov Frederick Agah and Paolo Garzotti (European Commission).

Whilst some ACP Members voiced scepticism, most speakers welcomed the agreement, as also other elements of the ‘Bali package’ which aim at increasing trade in order to bring jobs and poverty reduction. Members underlined the importance of adding value to goods within ACP countries and called on the EU partners to respect their commitments to provide adequate assistance, including Aid for Trade.

(The sitting closed at 12.40 p.m. and resumed at 15.00 p.m.)

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| Fitz A. JACKSON  Louis MICHEL | Alhaj Muhammad MUMUNI and  Luis Marco AGUIRIANO NALDA |
| Co-Presidents | Co-Secretaries-General |

IN THE CHAIR: Louis MICHEL

Co-President

7.   Vote on the motions for resolutions included in the reports submitted by the three standing committees

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

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| — | The global spread of terrorism: the role of the Internet and social media (ACP-EU/101.544/14/fin.)  Committee on Political Affairs  Report by Moses Kollie (Liberia) and Zita Gurmai  Amendments adopted: 1, 2.  The resolution, thus amended, was adopted unanimously. |

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| — | Regional integration and modernisation of customs for sustainable development in ACP countries, in cooperation with the EU (ACP-EU/101.547/14/fin.)  Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade  Report by Piet Van Der Walt (Namibia) and Oldřich Vlasák  No amendments were tabled.  The resolution was adopted unanimously. |

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| — | Mining for oil and minerals on the seabed in the context of sustainable development (ACP-EU/101.546/14/fin.)  Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment  Report by Joe Koim Komun (Papua New Guinea) and Christa Klaß  No amendments were tabled.  The resolution was adopted unanimously. |

8.   Vote on the urgent motions for resolution

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| — | The human, economic and social rights of migrants in ACP and EU countries (ACP-EU/101.674/14/fin.)  No amendments were tabled.  The resolution was adopted unanimously. |

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| — | The situation in the Central African Republic (ACP-EU/101.675/14/fin.)  Amendments adopted: 1 oral amendment.  The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously. |

9.   Any other business

Speakers: Jacob Oulanyah (Uganda), Mohamed Y Goumaneh (Djibouti), Abdirizak Osman Hassan (Somalia) and Fitz A. Jackson (Co-President)

Members asked for a declaration by the Co-Presidents condemning the attack by al-Shabaab on 18 March 2014 against the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali national forces in Buulo Burto (Somalia).

Members raised the issue of the absence of protocol and transport services at the airport in Strasbourg, France and the difficulties in obtaining Schengen visas.

The Co-President took note of the terrorist act, expressed condolences to the families of the victims and announced that once the facts of the attack were clear a declaration would be issued. Concerning the Schengen visas, he informed the Assembly that the Belgian government had made a commitment to ease the granting of visas and requested a consolidated list of ACP representatives and staff participating in the Assembly. As some countries had submitted very extensive lists, it had not yet been possible to submit the consolidated list to the Belgian government.

Co-President Fitz A. Jackson thanked Louis Michel for his unswerving and profound support and commitment to the ACP-EU partnership, and wished him all the best in the European Parliament elections scheduled for 22—25 May 2014. Co-President Louis Michel wished farewell to those Members of the European Parliament who would not return to the Assembly, making particular mention of Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez and Olle Schmidt.

10.   Approval of the minutes of the afternoon sitting of Monday, 17 March 2014 and of the morning and afternoon sittings of Tuesday, 18 March 2014

The minutes were approved.

11.   Date and place of the 28th Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The 28th Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly would be held from 1 to 3 December 2014 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

The Co-President thanked the Members, the co-secretariat, the interpreters, the political groups and all the staff for their work during the session, and particularly President Schulz for his constant dedication and support with regard to the work of the Assembly and for helping make this meeting a success.

(The sitting closed at 15.35)

Fitz A. JACKSON

Louis MICHEL

Co-Presidents

Alhaj Muhammad MUMUNI and

Luis Marco AGUIRIANO NALDA

Co-Secretaries-General

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