European p’mentarians on evaluation visit

• Four-member delegation to assess groundwork laid for successful GSP+ application 

A four-member delegation from the European Parliament will arrive in Sri Lanka on Monday to evaluate progress on national reconciliation and ways of empowering Sri Lankan women politically and economically, while also assessing the groundwork laid for a successful GSP+ application, a statement issued by the office of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and the Maldives yesterday said.

The visiting delegation will be led by Chair of the Delegation for Relations with Countries of South Asia Jean Lambert (UK), and will include Sajjad Karim (UK), Thomas Mann (Germany) and Ulrike Müller (Germany).

The delegation is set to visit Colombo, Trincomalee and Batticaloa to meet government, local government, parliamentary and civil society representatives. The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will also visit European Union-supported projects in Trincomalee and Batticaloa. The projects, in the areas of psychosocial care, housing, dairy, and waste management, are implemented by the Family Rehabilitation Centre, UN-Habitat, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and United Nations Office for Project Services, the statement said.

During his recent visit to Brussels, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to discuss issues including Sri Lanka’s application for GSP+, the role of SAARC, accountability and justice, minority rights and poverty alleviation. 

The European Union has nearly doubled its development assistance to Sri Lanka for the years up to 2020 to €210 million (approximately Rs. 34 billion), financing projects focusing on preventing conflict, as well as trade development and reducing poverty in Sri Lanka’s poorest estate and rural areas. The EU will also provide support under the Government’s peace building priority plan.