Brussels, 26/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - The 24th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), is being held in Parmaribo (Suriname) on 27-29 November, under the joint presidency of Louis Michel (ALDE, Belgium) and Musikari Kombo (Kenyan representative). The two burning issues on the agenda will be the crisis in Mali, which has been cut in two since the north of the country fell into the hands of radical Islamist rebels, and the instability and insecurity in the Great Lakes region, linked to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The political assembly which, every six months, brings together around 100 MEPs and elected representatives from ACP States (African/Caribbean/Pacific) in equal numbers, will adopt an emergency resolution on each of these issues.
Debates will above all relate to: - the EU's response to the crisis in Somalia (political affairs committee, co-rapporteurs Véronique De Keyser (PES, Belgium) and Ali Soubaneh (Djibouti elected representative); - entrepreneurship based on information and communication technologies in ACP countries (report by the committee on economic development, finance and trade); - and the importance of access to energy for economic development and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals after 2015 (report by the committee on social affairs and the environment, co-rapporteurs: Manuel Jimenez, Dominican Republic, and Host Schnellahrdt, EPP, Germany). Current resolutions are due to be adopted.
MEPs and their counterparts from national ACP parliaments will also have an opportunity to exchange views with Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Council President Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, the Cypriot foreign minister, on current and future cooperation between the EU and ACP countries.
Many other subjects will be tackled (without a resolution) including the regional integration of the Caribbean and implementation of the EU-Cariforum economic partnership agreement. The kick-off for the 24th JPA will be given by Louis Michel and Musikari Kombo in the presence of the president of the Suriname national assembly, Jennifer Geerlings-Simmons. (AN/transl.jl)