Brussels, 13/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - In the midst of the migration crisis and following on from the Migration Pact proposed by the European Commission as a financial carrot or stick for 16 African countries, most of which belong to the ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) Group (see EUROPE 1567), the 31st plenary session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) will deal with the joint management of migration by the EU and ACP countries, and the future of the ACP-EU partnership after 2020 when the Cotonou Agreement expires.
The JPA, the political arena bringing together an equal number of parliamentarians from Europe and from the ACP states every six months, opened in Windhoek, Namibia, on Monday 13 June under the joint chairmanship of Louis Michel MEP (ALDE, Belgium) and Netty Baldeh (elected in Gambia) in the presence of Peter Hitjitevi, the head of the National Assembly of Namibia.
The pre-electoral and security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against a particularly worrying backdrop of violence and massacres (see EUROPE 11567) will be the subject of an emergency resolution. Rape and violence against women and children will be another emergency subject.
The debate on the future of the ACP-EU partnership after the Cotonou Agreement will highlight the possibilities of an enhanced ACP-EU partnership post 2020 (see EUROPE 11561 and 11521).
The Assembly will offer the parliamentarians the opportunity to question European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica on Monday 13 June, and the representatives of the ACP and EU Councils of Ministers on Wednesday 15 June.
The three resolutions that will be put to the parliamentarians' vote will cover the following subjects: - continental free trade area in Africa: opportunities for boosting trade on the African continent and possible advantages for the ACP countries (co-rapporteurs: Jean-Marie Bulambo, DRC, and Marielle de Sarnez, ALDE, France); - migration between ACP countries and EU member states: causes, consequences and strategies for joint management (co-rapporteurs: Magnus Kofi Amoatey, Ghana, and Norbert Neuser, S&D, Germany); - improvement in participative governance by decentralisation and strengthening local governance (co-rapporteurs: James Kembi-Gitura, Kenya, and Aymeric Chauprade, non-attached, France).
The MEPs and their ACP counterparts will also discuss the impact on the ACP economies of the fall in oil price and other basic strategic products, and the changing face of conflicts and the world security threat, without adopting a resolution. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)