Joint Commission session between Sri Lanka and EU to commence tomorrow

The 25th Session of the Joint Commission between Sri Lanka and the European Union is scheduled to commence tomorrow at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo, the Ministry said. 

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.

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, a statement from the Ministry said. 

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 Stabilization & National Policies, Justice, Prison Affairs & Constitutional Reforms, Trade, Commerce & Food Security, Labour & Foreign Employment, Education, Environment, Defence, Fisheries, Public Security, Urban Development & Housing and the Attorney General’s Department 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.