EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission to hold 25th session today

The 25th session of the Joint Commission between Sri Lanka and the European Union will be convened today (9 May) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo. The meeting will be co-chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka Aruni Wijewardane and EU European External Action Service Deputy Managing Director for Asia Pacific Paola Pampaloni.

 The previous session of the Joint Commission meeting was held in February 2022 in Brussels.

The Joint Commission will deliberate on a broad range of bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest to both sides and discuss areas for future cooperation. The outcome of the three Working Groups established under the Joint Commission namely, the Working Group on Governance, Rule of Law and Human Rights; the Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation; and the Working Group on Development Cooperation will also be discussed in detail during the meeting. The European Union delegation will brief on the new cycle of the EU GSP Regulation to be adopted for 2024 - 2033, which will be effective from 1 January 2024 for the next 10 years.

The Sri Lanka delegation will consist of representatives of the Ministries of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policies, Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, Trade, Commerce and Food Security, Labour and Foreign Employment, Education, Environment, Defence, Fisheries, Public Security, Urban Development and Housing and the Attorney General’s Department as well as senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.