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Welcome from the Chair

Welcome to the site of the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America (DCAM).

As the elected Chair of the delegation, I preside over our regular meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg and set the agenda for our work with the countries this delegation follows: Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama.

During this term of the European Parliament, our work is focussed on the EU-Central America Association Agreement, which was signed on 29 June 2012 in Tegucigalpa (Honduras). In particular, I engaged myself to speed up the ratification process by national parliaments. Up to this date, more than 20 member states have ratified the Agreement and I hope that it can enter into force before the end of this legislative term.

I also pursued the organisation of an EU-Central America Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) with the six countries which are party to the Association Agreement (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama). The future JPC will greatly strengthen the inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two regions.

Another major event in this parliamentary term is the establishment of a new EU-CUba relationship through the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, signed on 12 December 2016 in Brussels. The European Parliament is currently preparing for the consent vote on this agreement, which is scheduled to take place in July. I hope that our delegation will soon have the opportunity to visit this country for an intense exchange of views on the economic and political developments Cuba is experiencing today.

I look forward to guiding our delegation through these challenging times in a rapidly changing world.

Sofia Sakorafa