Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| 30.5.2017 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 170/9 |

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JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT CONCLUDED 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

MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF WEDNESDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2016

(2017/C 170/03)

Contents

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| 1. | The role of infrastructure development in fostering regional integration | 10 |

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| 2. | Approval of the minutes of the afternoon sitting of Monday, 19 December 2016. | 10 |

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| 3. | How to support the resettlement of migrants in their home country | 10 |

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| 4. | Approval of the minutes of the morning sitting of Tuesday, 20 December 2016. | 11 |

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| 5. | Urgent topic No 1: The post-electoral situation in Gabon | 11 |

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| 6. | Urgent topic No 2: Impact of hurricane Matthew in Haiti | 11 |

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| 7. | Approval of the minutes of the afternoon sitting of Tuesday, 20 December 2016 | 11 |

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| 8. | Vote on the motions for resolution included in the reports submitted by the three standing committees | 11 |

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| 9. | Vote on urgent motions for resolutions | 12 |

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| 10. | Vote on the draft declaration | 13 |

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| 11. | Any other business | 13 |

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| 12. | Date and place of the 33rd Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly | 13 |

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| ANNEX I | ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE MEMBERS OF THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY | 14 |

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| ANNEX II | RECORD OF ATTENDANCE AT THE SESSION HELD IN NAIROBI (KENYA) FROM 19 TO 21 DECEMBER 2016 | 18 |

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| ANNEX III | TEXTS ADOPTED | 21 |

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| Resolution on the impact of illicit financial flows on development finance | 21 |

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| Resolution on challenges for family farming and small-scale agriculture production in ACP countries | 26 |

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| Resolution on the impact of Hurricane Matthew in Haiti | 33 |

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| Declaration on the parliamentary dimension of the Post-Cotonou ACP-EU relations | 36 |

MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF WEDNESDAY, 21 DECEMBER 2016

(The sitting opened at 9.20)

IN THE CHAIR: Michèle RIVASI

Acting Co-President

A minute’s silence was observed in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack in Berlin.

1.

The role of infrastructure development in fostering regional integration

Debate with Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Kenya)

Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Kenya), pointed out that African regional integration, inclusive sustainable development and economic growth could not become a reality without adequate infrastructure. She underlined that recent progress made in regional road construction remained insufficient as 75 % of Africa’s road network was still unpaved. She therefore called for massive investment in credible regional projects connecting different parts of the continent. Moreover, regional power grids should be put in place, while non-tariff barriers to trade should be eliminated. She described the setting-up of the ‘Central Corridor’ and the development of an inter-modal connection from Kenya to Cameroon and the Atlantic Ocean, passing through South Sudan, and underlined the importance of developing public-private partnerships (PPPs) and technical skills. On a separate note, she called for the adoption of a UN convention on terrorism, so that the scourge of terrorism could be dealt with more efficiently.

Speakers: Mmadi Hassani (Comores), Anna Záborská, Joyce Laboso (Kenya), Alpha Ousmane (Burkina Faso), Bodil Valero, Joachim Zeller, Louis H. Straker (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Tesfaye Daba (Ethiopia), Michael Gahler, Domenico Rosa (Commission) and Stefano Dejak (EU Delegation).

Members underlined the importance of developing alternative sources of energy, such as geo-thermal power, for which there was considerable potential in Kenya, and stressed the importance of developing better public transport in major cities.

Amina Mohamed responded to questions and wound up the debate.

2.   Approval of the minutes of the afternoon sitting of Monday, 19 December 2016.

The minutes were approved.

3.

How to support the resettlement of migrants in their home country

Debate with Georges-Henri Beauthier, barrister and human rights lawyer

Georges-Henri Beauthier, a barrister and human rights lawyer, pointed out that Europe had not been dealing with the problem of migration in an appropriate or uniform manner. The importance was highlighted, therefore, of improving the conditions of repatriated people in their countries of origin. The Fondation pour l’égalité des chances en Afrique supported and promoted basic social, health and educational facilities, as well as more affordable access to microcredit, vocational training in sectors where jobs were available, and the creation of cultural centres. Georges-Henri Beauthier criticised the EU Return Directive for failing to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and for its tendency to lead to the outsourcing of basic services for refugees to external companies, which cannot be controlled.

Speakers: Alhaji Sillah (Gambia), Agustín Diaz de Mera, Alpha Ousmane (Burkina Faso), Ole Christensen, Musa Hussein Naib (Eritrea), Arne Gericke, Joyce Laboso (Kenya), Marielle de Sarnez, Tesfaye Daba (Ethiopia), Maria Lidia Senra Rodriguez, Ahamada Soukouna (Mali), Bodil Valero, Amadou Dioffo (Niger), Louis Aliot, Wamai Jack Wamanga (Uganda),

IN THE CHAIR: Cécile Kashetu KYENGE

Acting Co-President

Mariya Gabriel, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Nathalie Griesbeck, Joachim Zeller, Mohamed Youssouf Goumaneh (Djibouti), Anna Záborská, Teresa Jiménez-Becerril Barrio,

IN THE CHAIR: Michèle RIVASI

Acting Co-President

Cécile Kashetu Kyenge, Louis H. Straker (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Stefano Dejak (EU Delegation) and Domenico Rosa (Commission).

The majority of Members insisted on the need to tackle the root causes of migration, but also to create safe and legal migration pathways into the European Union, and implement visa facilitation in order to prevent ‘death trips’ across the Mediterranean. They also stressed that the long-term impact of migration to Europe could only be positive, in view of the continent’s aging population.

Georges-Henri Beauthier responded to questions and wound up the debate.

4.   Approval of the minutes of the morning sitting of Tuesday, 20 December 2016.

The minutes were approved.

5.   Urgent topic No 1: The post-electoral situation in Gabon

Speakers: Christine de Peyron (EEAS), Mariya Gabriel, Mmadi Hassani (Comores), Jo Leinen, Raphaël Mangouala (Gabon), Michèle Rivasi, Louis Aliot, Joachim Zeller and Cécile Kashetu Kyenge.

Members expressed the hope that the acts of violence and human rights violations that took place after the presidential elections of 27 August 2016 would not happen again. To this effect, they urged all political stakeholders in Gabon to participate in an inclusive national dialogue. EP Members in particular criticised the lack of transparency surrounding the elections, notably as regards the centralisation and certification of the results. They condemned the defamation campaign that was orchestrated against the EU Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) and called for the implementation of the recommendations included in the report drafted by the EOM.

Members regretted that an agreement could not be found on a compromise text for a motion for a resolution on this issue, despite strenuous efforts made by both sides.

6.   Urgent topic No 2: Impact of hurricane Matthew in Haiti

Speakers: Domenico Rosa (Commission), Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Cécile Kashetu Kyenge, Rosa Estaras Ferragut, Agustín Diaz de Mera, Catherine Bearder, Maria Lidia Senra Rodriguez, Michèle Rivasi, Mohamed Youssouf Goumaneh (Djibouti), Charles Allicock (Guyana), Tadeusz Zwiefka and Krzystof Hetman.

Haiti was already in a state of severe distress before the hurricane: after the deadly earthquake, which claimed more than 200 000 victims, cholera killed an additional 10 000 people.

Hurricane Matthew claimed 546 lives. The Commission immediately allocated a total of EUR 3,5 million for temporary shelters. In addition, 22 projects with a total value of EUR 28 million had been launched so far. A further EUR 30 million would be disbursed over the course of the first few months of 2017. National authorities were at the forefront of implementing these humanitarian projects. Therefore, any NGO disaster response must not be funded outside of the nationally led framework. A need for more effective disaster-prevention systems was identified. The introduction of the ‘Copernicus’ mapping system was called for.

(The sitting adjourned at 12.53 and resumed at 15.08)

IN THE CHAIR: Michèle RIVASI

Acting Co-President

7.   Approval of the minutes of the afternoon sitting of Tuesday, 20 December 2016

The minutes were approved.

8.   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.

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| — | Constitutional limits on presidential terms (ACP-EU/102.051/16/fin)  Committee on Political Affairs  Report by Tulia Ackson (Tanzania) and Ignazio Corrao  Amendments adopted: 8 and 12  Amendments rejected: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14  Amendment withdrawn: 3  A vote by separate houses on amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14 was requested by the EPP Group.  Amendment 1, which sought to delete Citation 10, was withdrawn by its author (Jacob Oulanyah (Uganda)) and replaced by a request for a split vote on Citation 10. Both parts of the split vote were rejected.  Amendment 8, which sought to delete Recital H, was withdrawn by its author (Jacob Oulanyah (Uganda)) and replaced by a request for a split vote on Recital H. Both parts of the split vote were adopted.  A vote by separate houses on the final resolution was requested by the ACP House.  The resolution was rejected. |

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| — | Impact of illicit financial flows on development finance (ACP-EU/102.060/16/fin)  Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade  Report by Michel Kamano (Guinea) and Theodor Dumitru Stolojan  Amendments adopted: 1 and 2  A vote by separate houses on amendment 1 was requested by the EPP Group. The amendment was adopted.  A split vote and vote by separate houses on paragraph 4 was requested by the EPP Group. Paragraph 4 was adopted.  On paragraph 6, a vote by separate houses was requested by the S&D and EPP Groups, and a split vote was requested by the S&D Group. The second part of the split vote was adopted.  The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously with two abstentions. |

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| — | Challenges for family farming and small-scale agriculture production in ACP countries (ACP-EU/102.064/16/fin)  Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment  Report by Uladi Mussa (Malawi) and Maria Heubuch  Amendment adopted: 1  Amendments rejected: 3, 4 and 5  Amendment fallen: 2  A vote by separate houses on amendments 3, 4 and 5 was requested by the EPP Group. The amendments were rejected.  On paragraph 2, a separate vote by separate houses was requested by the EPP Group and a split vote was requested by the S&D Group. Paragraph 2 was rejected.  On paragraph 27, a split vote was requested by the EPP Group. Paragraph 27 was adopted.  On paragraph 32, a separate vote by separate houses was requested by the EPP Group and a split vote was requested by the S&D Group. Paragraph 32 was rejected.  The resolution thus amended was adopted unanimously, with one abstention. |

9.   Vote on urgent motions for resolutions

Fitz A. Jackson (Jamaica) proposed that the vote on the urgent motion for a resolution on the post-electoral situation in Gabon be postponed until the 33rd session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly in June 2017.

Michael Gahler and Jo Leinen recommended proceeding with the vote.

The Co-President reminded members of the deadline for requests relating to voting methods and the Assembly proceeded with the vote.

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| — | The post-electoral situation in Gabon (ACP-UE/102.185/16/)  A compromise motion for a resolution tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE and Green Groups and a resolution tabled by Raphäel Mangouala (Gabon) were put to the vote.  On the compromise motion for a resolution tabled by the EPP, S&D, ECR, ALDE and Green Groups, a vote by secret ballot was requested by five Members. Also, a vote by separate houses was requested by five Members.  Neena Gill, Anna Zaborska, Fitz A. Jackson (Jamaica) and Hermann Razafindravelo (Madagascar) were chosen by lot as tellers for the vote by secret ballot.  The resolution was rejected.  On the resolution tabled by Raphäel Mangouala (Gabon), a vote by separate houses was requested by five Members.  The resolution was rejected. |

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| — | Impact of hurricane Matthew in Haiti (ACP-EU/102.184/16/fin)  No amendments were tabled.  The resolution was adopted unanimously. |

10.   Vote on the draft declaration

The declaration was adopted unanimously with two abstentions.

11.   Any other business

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| — | Mainstreaming women’s and youth issues into the work of the ACP-EU JPA  Speakers: Julie Ward, Catherine Bearder, Cécile Kashetu Kyenge, Mohamed Youssouf Goumaneh (Djibouti), Maria Arena, Cecilia Ogwal (Uganda), Netty Baldeh, Michael Gahler, Arne Gericke and Michèle Rivasi.  Speakers praised the holding of both a Women’s Forum and a Youth Conference on the margins of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly and called for more attention to be paid to women’s and youth issues in the work of the Assembly. An ACP-EU Youth Conference could be organised.  The Co-Presidents undertook to submit this request to the Bureau. |

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| — | Co-Presidents’ joint statement on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)  Speakers: Michèle Rivasi, Netty Baldeh, Veikko Nekundi (Namibia), Daniel K. Shumba (Zimbabwe), Michael Gahler, Sebastian C. Kopulande (Zambia), Maria Arena and Alpha Ousmane (Burkina Faso).  The Co-Presidents announced their intention to issue a Co-Presidents’ joint statement on the situation in the DRC, in accordance with Rule 14 of the Rules of Procedure, calling for the cessation of acts of violence in the country and respect for the Congolese Constitution. |

12.   Date and place of the 33rd Session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The 33rd session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly would be held in Saint Julian’s (Malta) from 19 to 21 June 2017.

The Co-President thanked the Kenyan authorities for the efficient organisation of the session, and the Members and the co-secretariat for their contributions.

(The sitting closed at 17.00)

Netty BALDEH

Cécile Kashetu KYENGE(Acting)

Co-Presidents

Leonard-Emile OGNIMBA(Acting)

Ciril STOKELJ (Acting)

Co-Secretaries-General

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