OACPS Ambassadors exchange views with Slovenian Delegation at Special Session of the Committee of Ambassadors
Brussels, 22 October 2021/OACPS: The Committee of Ambassadors (CoA) of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) held a special session to meet with H.E. Dr Stanislav Raščan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting Minister for Development Cooperation of the government of Slovenia and representative of the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union (EU), on Thursday, 14 October 2021 at the Brussels-based Secretariat of the OACPS.
Slovenia is currently the chair of the EU Rotating presidency until December 2021. During the meeting, the coordinators of the OACPS regions had the opportunity to exchange views directly with Minister Raščan on issues of concern to the OACPS in general and with respect to their specific regions, such as the unilateral publication of the EU’s list on non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and third countries regarding the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing; OACPS-EU collaboration on the international scene; including COP26 and the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) also known as Global Europe.
In his presentation to the Committee of Ambassadors, Minister Raščan spoke of the future Partnership Agreement between the EU and the OACPS, the signing for which is now foreseen for spring 2022, and pledged that “Slovenia will put all our efforts towards finalising internal EU procedures which are still needed before the signing of the Agreement.” He further stressed that “Approval of the Council decision on signature and provisional application of the Post-Cotonou Agreement in COREPER, which is foreseen at latest in December, is one of our main objectives.”
Minister Raščan also expressed strong support for the parliamentary dimension of the EU-OACPS relations and stressed that the “pursuit of further strengthening cooperation between the EU and OACPS in the international scene will highlight the potential of our cooperation and represents an important priority for our Presidency.”
The Slovenian minister took the opportunity to highlight another key OACPS-EU joint initiative – the upcoming EU-OACPS meeting in the margins of COP26 on 9 November, as well as to briefly outline the priorities of Slovenia’s Presidency in the field of development cooperation and humanitarian aid.
Click HERE to see the full address made by H.E. Dr Raščan to the Committee of Ambassadors.