BRUSSELS ACP/IDN – The heads of state or government of the 28 EU member states, constituting the European Council, have authorized the European Commission to open negotiations for a new partnership agreement with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The Group's Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes has greeted the decision.

Fish and seafood is one of the most traded food commodities in the world. Some 38 per cent of world production enters international trade, of which more than half originates in developing countries. Global exports reached 153 US$ billion in 2017, slightly up compared to 2016. The net trade income for developing countries (export – import), valued at US$ 36 billion in 2016, is greater than all other agricultural commodities combined.

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Madame Chairperson of the Committee of Ambassadors, Secretary-General of the ACP Group, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bula Vinaka and a very good afternoon to you all.

Brussels, 20 June 2018

Honourable Co-Presidents, Distinguished members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Brussels, 20 June 2018

Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly – Hon. Louis Michel, and Co-President, Hon. Joseph Hyacinthe Owona Kono, Hon. President-in-Office of the EU Council, Ekaterina Zaharieva, Deputy Prime Minister for Judicial Reform and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Members of the JPA, Distinguished guests

Thank you for the opportunity of addressing you on the occasion of the 35^th Session of your Assembly.

An  ACP-EU Technical Seminar on Trafficking in Human Beings, with special focus on Women and Children has just ended at the ACP Secretariat, where delegates gathered to share views and make recommendations on the way forward in combatting this social affliction.

Brussels, Belgium, 19 June 2018

Your Excellency – Yuri Sterk, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Hon. Louis Michel, Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Distinguished Colleagues and invited guests,

I thank you for the honour and privilege of addressing this session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. I wish to place on record the appreciation of ACP Members, and indeed of the ACP Group, to the European Parliament for offering to host these meetings.

Brussels | Lomé  – African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the European Union will walk the talk on global governance by organising joint activities during United Nations conferences this year, according to co-presidents of the Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers.