In the capacity of Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, will participate on 16 July 2015, along with European Trade Commissioner Ceclia Malmström, in the Third Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council in Georgetown, Guyana.
The CARIFORUM Council is composed of sixteen member states: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Council serves as a platform for dialogues between the Caribbean States and the EU, and aims to promote integration and cooperation in the Caribbean as well as manage the political dialogue between the Caribbean and the EU.
The Third Joint EU-CARIFORUM Council will pay particular focus to the 'Economic Partnership Agreements' (EPAs) signed in 2008 by the member states of CARIFORUM and the EU. Discussions will centre on identifying opportunities for the further promotion of a bi-regional partnership in the areas of trade and development.
In conjunction with the council, Minister Asselborn will use the opportunity to have a bilateral meeting with the Vice-President, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Carl Greenidge, in order to address the politicla and economic relations that Guyana has with the Grand Duchy and the EU. Additionally, the Ministers will take stock of major issues on the international political agenda.
Photo by Artur Leonardo Kurkowiak (Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn)
