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 The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) met in Prague (Czech Republic) from 4 to 9 April to discuss current topics of concern for the ACP countries. Twice a year the EU-ACP JPA brings together 78 members of the European Parliament and 78 parliamentarians from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. The focus of this JPA was the G-20's response to the world food and financial crisis, and efforts to make ACP-EU economic partnership agreements (EPAs) flexible enough to meet development needs.
The JPA adopted a resolution on "Food and financial crisis: How to make the G-20 deal deliver for developing countries", as well as several resolutions on a wide range of topics such as climate change, reconciling democracy and diversity, and piracy off of the Somalia coast. The resolutions adopted called for a number of actions to be taken in order to address the current challenges that the ACP countries are facing. The resolution on the food and economic crises calls for reforms to put an end to tax evasion, commodity price speculation, farm export subsidies and food shortages while the one on climate change advocates for international trade taxes and national emission taxes. The resolution on the EPAs urged for more flexibility, more aid and for the EPAs to be subject to parliamentary scrutiny. The international efforts to help build political stability in Somalia and the need for international policing off the coast in the Horn of Africa region were the main calls from the resolution on piracy in Somali waters. At the closing ceremony, MEP Glenys Kinnock was voted an Honorary President of the ACP-EU JPA, in recognition of the distinguished services she had rendered the Assembly over fifteen years, of which eight as Co-President. Mrs Kinnock will not be standing for re-election to the European Parliament. The next ACP-EU JPA takes place in Luanda (Angola) from 28 November to 3 December 2009. Source: |
