Activities of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly in 2000

The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Miguel Angel MARTÍNEZ MARTÍNEZ (PES, E) on the work of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly. The committee wanted the Assembly to operate as a proper parliament which meant, first and foremost, that the ACP states should in future be represented by members of their national parliaments, with the attendance of ambassadors or other officials, from countries that did not yet have functioning parliaments, constituting "an absolute exception". It was keen for the ACP representatives to be able to play a more active part on equal terms and wanted to see alliances formed across the House, based on political ideology, irrespective of ACP or European nationality, instead of the present system of separate EU and ACP houses. A number of improvements to the Assembly's working methods were needed, including the creation of parliamentary committees and, more controversially, regional meetings (which were provided for in the Cotonou Agreement). The committee also called on Parliament's representatives to show greater commitment to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly. The new name should not be regarded merely as a piece of rhetoric, and the Assembly should be granted the political importance it deserved as the foremost forum in which cooperation was pursued with representatives of developing countries and peoples. �