30.5.2017

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 170/5

---

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 TUESDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2016

(2017/C 170/02)

Contents

1.

Statement by Lukáš Parízek, State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs (Slovakia), President-in-Office of the EU Council

5

2.

Statement by Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, International Trade, Industry and Consumer Affairs (Saint Kitts and Nevis), President-in-Office of the ACP Council

5

3.

Question Time to the Council

6

4.

Debate with the Council — catch-the-eye

6

5.

Constitutional limits on presidential terms

6

6.

Summary reports from the workshops — catch-the-eye

7

7.

Joining forces to implement the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change

7

8.

The impact of illicit financial flows on development finance

7

9.

The role of trade in the attainment of the SDGs

8

MINUTES OF THE SITTING OF TUESDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2016

(The sitting opened at 9.20)

IN THE CHAIR: Cécile Kashetu KYENGE

Acting Co-President

1.   Statement by Lukáš Parízek, State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs (Slovakia), President-in-Office of the EU Council

Lukáš Parízek, State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs (Slovakia), President-in-Office of the EU Council, stressed the key role of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly in enhancing democratic legitimacy and ensuring the diversity and strength of the partnership. He focused on the challenges ahead and welcomed the fact that the ACP shares the priority given by the EU to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Climate change, the link between security and development, migration policy, demographic trends and youth were further topics covered by the President-in-Office, who also underlined the need to reform joint institutions to address new challenges and to base joint efforts on the principles of solidarity, partnership and shared responsibility.

2.   Statement by Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, International Trade, Industry and Consumer Affairs (Saint Kitts and Nevis), President-in-Office of the ACP Council

Lindsay F.P. Grant, Minister of Tourism, International Trade, Industry and Consumer Affairs (Saint Kitts and Nevis), President-in-Office of the ACP Council, outlined the ACP process of discussions on ACP-EU relations after the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement. While important geographical and political changes had taken place, the priority of eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development remained unchanged. The ACP Council had held a first discussion on the Joint Communication of the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on a renewed ACP-EU partnership and would reflect upon it carefully. He also stressed the continued commitment of the ACP Group to its relations with the EU and to staying united as a group.

3.   Question Time to the Council

14 questions were put to the ACP Council and 17 to the EU Council.

Lindsay F.P. Grant replied on behalf of the ACP Council to the following questions and supplementary questions:

Question 6 by Julie Ward on food security and nutrition, with specific reference to women and girls

Question 9 by Arne Lietz on the Panama Papers

Question 11 by Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez on Member State involvement in the establishment of a legally binding treaty on corporations and human rights and of an international corporate criminal court

Question 14 by David Martin (replaced by Maria Arena) on the political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The authors of questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12 and 13 were not present.

Lukáš Parízek replied on behalf of the EU Council to the following questions and supplementary questions:

Question 17 by Cécile Kashetu Kyenge on development in the Central African Republic

Question 20 by David Martin (replaced by Maria Arena) on the political situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Question 24 by Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez on Member State involvement in the establishment of a legally binding treaty on corporations and human rights and of an international corporate criminal court

Question 25 by Teresa Jiménez-Becerril Barrio on child labour in Benin

Question 29 by Julie Ward on food security and nutrition, with specific reference to women and girls

Question 31 by Inama Nkenguzamateka (Burundi) on the unequal partnership between the ACP and the EU.

The author of question 19 had no supplementary question.

The authors of questions 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28 and 30 were not present.

4.   Debate with the Council — catch-the-eye

Speakers: Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Anna Záborská, Davy Yama (Central African Republic), Babiker Mohamed Toum (Sudan), Arne Lietz, Julie Ward, Catherine Bearder, Magnus Kofi Amoatey (Ghana), Joachim Zeller, Bodil Valero, Mariya Gabriel and Cécile Kashetu Kyenge.

The questions covered a wide range of topics, including Policy Coherence for Development and the Official Development Assistance commitments of EU Member States, EU cooperation with Sudan and the Central African Republic, the EU Plan on Wildlife Trafficking, the fragmentation of EU development funding and initiatives on legal migration.

IN THE CHAIR: Louis MICHEL

Co-President

5.   

Constitutional limits on presidential terms

Committee on Political Affairs

Co-rapporteurs: Ignazio Corrao and Tulia Ackson (Tanzania)

Tulia Ackson (Tanzania) introduced the report and outlined the ACP position on the topic.

Speakers: Pally Iriase (Nigeria), Joachim Zeller, Cécile Kashetu Kyenge, Mohamed Youssouf Goumaneh (Djibouti), Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Tesfaye Daba Wakjira (Ethiopia), Uladi Mussa (Malawi), Bodil Valero, Ahamada Soukouna (Mali), Mohamed El Mokhtar Zamel (Mauritania), Louis Aliot, Amadou Dioffo (Niger), Amos Fish Mahlalela (South Africa), Mariya Gabriel, Louis H. Straker (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Jacob Oulanyah (Uganda), Tadeusz Zwiefka, Ibrahim Rassin Bundu (Sierra Leone), Carlos Zorrinho, Dariusz Rosati, Derek Vaughan and Kristin de Peyron (EEAS).

Members agreed that Constitutions are an expression of the will of the people and that they must therefore be respected, but can be changed if it is the people’s will to do so, including the issue of presidential term limits. However, several Members stressed that any such changes should be applied for the future but not for incumbent Presidents. Some Members spoke in favour of term limits but no Member contested the right of each country to decide for or against such limits.

Tulia Ackson (Tanzania) wound up the debate.

6.   Summary reports from the workshops — catch-the-eye

Julie Ward gave a summary report on the workshop on ‘Upscaling small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for employment creation’, stressing the importance, in particular in ACP countries, of including micro-enterprises and therefore of speaking up for MSMEs, which account for four out of every five new jobs created worldwide. To help MSMEs and to attract investment, the workshop identified a number of issues that should be tackled: reducing red tape, furthering regional integration, promoting training and capacity development, taking advantage of the digital economy and technology enhancement and tackling corruption and infrastructure weaknesses.

Speaker: Co-President Louis Michel.

Bradly John Felix (Saint Lucia) gave an oral report on the workshop on the ‘Kenyan horticulture sector’, stressing the key role of the horticultural sector for the Kenyan economy and employment. The sector exports its products worldwide and has set high social and environmental standards. It faces various challenges, such as the high cost of compliance with foreign phytosanitary standards. The workshop included a field visit to the Winchester flower farm.

(The sitting adjourned at 12.47 and resumed at 15.08)

IN THE CHAIR: Netty BALDEH

Co-President

7.   

Joining forces to implement the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on climate change

Exchange of views with Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), emphasised that the natural environment is the basis for human life on earth, as well as for agriculture, fisheries and, increasingly, energy. He also highlighted the links between climate change and environmental degradation on the one hand and conflict, fragility and poverty on the other. While ACP countries are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, there were also opportunities to be found, in particular in relation to renewable energy use and public transport infrastructure. ACP countries should try to leapfrog the development of rich countries in this regard.

Speakers: György Hölvényi, Jo Leinen, Catherine Bearder, Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Tesfaye Daba (Ethiopia), Michèle Rivasi, Emanuel Alberto Fernandes Barbosa (Cape Verde), Cecilia Ogwal (Uganda), Nicolas Bay, Babiker Mohamed Toum (Sudan), Esmond Edmund Forde (Trinidad and Tobago), Julie Ward, Arne Lietz and Domenico Rosa (Commission).

Members stressed the effects of climate change on developing countries, the need to invest in the green economy, to make energy savings and to halt the loss of biodiversity, as well as to support least developed countries in decarbonising their future development.

8.   

The impact of illicit financial flows on development finance

Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade

Co-rapporteurs: Theodor Dumitru Stolojan and Michel Kamano (Guinea)

Michel Kamano (Guinea) and Theodor Dumitru Stolojan presented the report, outlining the origins of illicit financial flows (IFF) and their effect on the economies and societies of developing countries. Members largely agreed on the scope and origins of IFF, namely tax evasion and tax fraud, transfer pricing abuse and various forms of organised crime.

Speakers: Mara Thompson (Barbados), György Hölvényi, Pally Iriase (Nigeria), Neena Gill, Louis Michel, Mohamed Y Goumaneh (Djibouti), Joyce Laboso (Kenya), Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Michèle Rivasi, Amos Fish Mahlalela (South Africa), Andre Misiekaba (Suriname), Cecilia Ogwal (Uganda), Dariusz Rosati, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Agustín Diaz de Mera and Domenico Rosa (Commission).

Some ACP Members warned against curbing the potential for resource-poor countries to maintain their financial services industries. Most, however, urged a concerted international effort to close legal gaps, step up international cooperation, drastically increase the transparency of beneficial ownership, financial flows and the reporting obligations of multinational companies, and to facilitate the recovery of illicit assets. Common responsibilities of governments in ACP and OECD countries and the private sector were also stressed.

Michel Kamano (Guinea) and Theodor Dumitru Stolojan wound up the debate.

IN THE CHAIR: Mara THOMPSON (Barbados)

Acting Co-President

9.   

The role of trade in the attainment of the SDGs

Keynote debate with Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), gave a presentation on trade and its role in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. He stressed that trade can contribute to lifting people out of poverty if combined with policies that encourage investment, build up infrastructure, help to reduce inequalities and provide support to meet the regulatory requirements of export markets.

Speakers: Mmadi Hassani (Comores), Daniel Caspary, Carlos Zorrinho, David Campbell Bannerman, Veikko Nekundi (Namibia), Maria Lidia Senra Rodríguez, Amos Fish Mahlalela (South Africa), Michèle Rivasi, Juliet Kinyamatama (Uganda), Michael Gahler, Sebastian C. Kopulande (Zambia), Ole Christensen, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Arne Lietz, Dariusz Rosati, Joachim Schuster, Julie Ward and Alessandro Tonoli (Commission).

Mukhisa Kituyi responded to the comments and questions of the speakers and agreed with Members that trade alone was not in itself sufficient to eradicate poverty, that globalisation needed rules and that there was a need for safety nets. He called upon Members to play a leading role in devising policies that are aligned with the SDGs and to convince people not to turn their backs on international cooperation, while addressing the negative aspects of globalisation. Some Members expressed contrary opinions about the benefits of global trade and the opportunities it has provided to the poor and to ACP countries, while agreeing with the need to invest in infrastructure and for ACP countries to move up the value chain. Several Members also stated that the global trade regime was not fully adapted to globalised economies and some criticised international trade rules for not being in the best interests of developing countries.

(The sitting closed at 19.19)

---