Brussels, 15 September 2014/ ACP: The 36th session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly and the inter-sessional meetings of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), previously scheduled for 23-26 September have been postponed.

A communication from the ACP Secretariat to all member delegations was sent out stating that the European Parliament (EP) called for the meeting’s deferral, in light of recent political developments central to Europe.

“On Thursday, 11 September 2014, Mr. Louis Michel, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, wrote to the ACP Co-President, Hon. Fitz A Jackson (Jamaica) informing him of the decision that had been taken by the Conference of Presidents of political groups of the European Parliament to postpone the JPA meetings after an analysis of the intense work that lies ahead arising from the recent European Parliament elections and current inter-institutional negotiations for forming the new leadership of the European Union,” it stated.

Rescheduled dates have not been confirmed. However, the postponed meetings were meant to be preparatory sessions leading up to the full plenary session of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly scheduled to take place in Port Vila, Vanuatu on 1-3 December, preceded by meetings of the ACP parliamentarians from 26-28 November. These dates have hitherto remained unchanged.

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly is one of the principal joint organs of the ACP-EU framework, gathering lawmakers from 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and counterparts from the European Parliament for political discussions twice a year.

Parliamentarians and ACP Missions in Brussels will be informed as soon as possible on the new dates.

– ACP Press