The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that the 25th Session of the Joint Commission between Sri Lanka and the European Union (EU) will take place on May 9th, 2023 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 Deputy Managing Director for Asia and the Pacific of the European External Action Service of the EU, Paola Pampaloni.
According to the foreign affairs ministry, the Joint Commission will discuss a broad range of bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual interest to both parties and explore opportunities 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.
In addition, the European Union delegation will provide a briefing on the new cycle of the EU GSP Regulation, which will be adopted for 2024 – 2033 and will be effective from January 1st, 2024 for the next 10 years.
Representatives from various Sri Lankan Ministries will attend the meeting, including the Ministries of Finance, Economic Stabilization 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, as well as senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The previous session of the Joint Commission meeting was held in February 2022 in Brussels, as reported by the Ministry.
