Inter-parliamentary meetings

The third CARIFORUM-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 31 October - 1 November 2017

The second CARIFORUM-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 3-4 April 2013.

A joint declaration was issued at the conclusion of the meeting, signed by Vasant BHARATH, Chair, Caribbean Delegation to the CARIFORUM-EU Parliamentary Committee, and David MARTIN, Head of the European Parliament Delegation. The declaration includes the following excerpts:

• The Committee adopted its Rules of Procedure.
  
  
• The EPA was recognized as a very important tool to promote export-led development and economic growth.
  
  
• Both sides expressed their commitment to the effective implementation of the EPA.
  
  
• The Committee underscored that while the Agreement opens up new possibilities as regards the movement of persons, especially for qualified professionals [...] in practice regulatory barriers impinge on the realisation of the Agreement's stated aims in this regard.
  
  
• Parliamentarians emphasised that the development component is an integral part of the EPA, and that the Agreement should contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, as well as to regional cooperation and integration.

The first CARIFORUM-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting was held in Brussels on Wednesday 15 June 2011, 15.00 - 18.30 and Thursday 16 June, 09.00 - 12.30.

The following points were addressed:

• Follow-up and report back from the CARIFORUM-EU Trade and Development Committee, Barbados, 9-10 June, 2011, with
  - H.E. Audrey Joy Grant, Ambassador of Belize
  - Mr Peter Thompson, Director for Development and EPAs, DG Trade.

• Exchange of views with Ambassador Errol Humphrey, author of the study 'Implementing the EPA, challenges and bottlenecks in the CARIFORUM region' (case studies of Barbados, the Dominican Republic and St Vincent and the Grenadines).

• Exchange of views on the programming of development support for the CARIFORUM-EC EPA, with
  - Mr Rune Skinnebach, EEAS.

• Discussion of the Rules of Procedures of the CARIFORUM-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee.

• Election of the Bureau of the CARIFORUM-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee
  -2 Co-Chairs: David Martin (S&D, UK) and Surujrattan Rambachan (Trinidad and Tobago)
  - 4 Vice-Chairs: Mrs Eleni Theocharous (EPP, Cyprus), Mr Niccolò Rinaldi (ALDE, IT) from the European Parliament,
  and Mr Rizek Afif Nazario, Dominican Republic, and Mr Rabindre Parmessar, Suriname, from the Cariforum legislatures.
  

• Exchange of views with Mr Karel de Gucht, EU Trade Commissioner.