Hon Minister for Foreign Affairs, Francine Baron represented Dominica at the 101st ACP Council of Ministers Meeting and the 40th ACP-EU Council of Ministers Meeting in Brussels.
The ACP group is 70 African, Caribbean and Pacific States.
The May 26th -29th Meeting of the highest decision making body of the ACP group of states discussed salient issues facing the ACP group.
Of paramount importance to the ministers are the future financing for development for ACP countries, the status of the Economic Partnership Agreement, the Climate Change Summit coming up in December and the post-2015 development agenda.
The Council endorsed for the first time in the group’s history, the creation of a platform for small island developing states to follow up implementation of the Samoa pathway which was the outcome of the 3rd UN International Conference on SIDS which took place in Samoa in 2014.
The 40th ACP-EU Council of Ministers Meeting focused on financing for development, migration, trade cooperation and ACP private sector development. It is expected that the EU also pronounced on the future of the ACP-EU relations post 2020.
The encounter between the EU and ACP is of special significance since it is at that high level meeting that Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago signed a historic waiver agreement with the European Union.