National Assembly represented at OACPS parliamentary assembly and ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly   |19 April 2022

From left to right: Hon. Gill, Cosette Songoire and Hon. André

Parliaments from across states of Africa, Caribbean, Pacific and Europe met in Strasbourg, France for the 60th session of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States parliamentary assembly and the 41st session of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly from March 29 to April 3, 2022.

The National Assembly of Seychelles was represented by Hon. Clifford Andre and Hon. Churchill Gill, and were assisted by Cosette Songoire, desk officer forl'Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF). During the seven days of sessions, they engaged in meaningful committee meetings, discussions, and debates covering diverse international issues relating to economic development, finance, trade, climate change and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) European Union (EU) partnership Agreement.

As a member State of the OACPS the two members participated actively in discussions on the seven days and got to exchange their views on the:

•          European Union (EU) list of non-cooperative tax jurisdictions and that of high-risk third countries with strategic deficiencies in their regime on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism list of countries;
•          Trade issues guaranteeing access to the European market for procedures from the OACPS member countries within the framework of the new regulations arising from the Green Pact for Europe and other measures linked to the EU trade and Sustainable Development Policy;
•          Climate change crisis: Discussions on the possibility of joint OACPS-EU parliamentary statement towards COP 27 and European Commission proposal for establishing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM): Discussion with the EU on main issues for the OACPS;
•          Role of parliament on the control of pandemics particularly the Covid-19 pandemic;
•          OACPS – EU Partnership Agreement: from the COTONOU Agreement to the POST COTONOU Agreement proposed for signing by the end of July;
•          Draft rules of procedure of the ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly;
•          Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its global impact;
•          Overcoming the global Covid-19 pandemic: cooperation for economic recovery and investments to achieve Universal health coverage and International solidarity to address the global education crisis in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.   

To conclude the sessions, the members actively debated and voted on a series of motions for resolution on ‘Enhancing the Resilience of Small Island Developing States (Sids) against climate change and natural disasters’, which was co-chaired by Honorable Clifford Andre with the EU.

There were 51 resolutions for amendments, whereby 28 were proposed by Seychelles such as:

•          Amendment 7 - whereas Sids in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Africa in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans depend on food imports, with 50% of Sids importing more than 80% of their food and nearly all Sids importing at least 60% of their food; whereas Sids are particularly affected by disruptions in supply chains and international trade, including flight cancellations, slowdowns in the shipping industry and logistics bottlenecks;
•          Amendment 9 – whereas Sids are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, posing an existential threat; whereas fisheries, tourism and agriculture contribute significantly to their economies, sectors whose vulnerability and fragility are making it more challenging for them to produce sufficient food to meet their populations’ needs; whereas without concerted global climate mitigation and adaptation effort, people living in low-lying coastal areas and small island states risk facing more intense  storms, flooding and ultimately land loss and relocation;
•          Amendment 25 – Calls on the ACP and EU governments to place more emphasis on investments in projects and infrastructure that will make the ACP States – and in particular Sids – more resilient in order to mitigate the impacts of climate change and better adapt to it; encourages ACP governments, with the support of the EU and members governments, to work with all relevant multilateral institutions towards building their resilience and sustainability;
•           Amendment 38 – Strongly condemns destructive predatory fishing activities of fishing fleets that violate the sovereignty of Sids, underlines the adverse impact of climate change on agricultural activities on inland settlements and in rural communities in Sids.

Press release from the National Assembly