EU-Bangladesh jt. commission meeting in Dhaka on May 31
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Nazmul Ahsan
The fifth EU-Bangladesh joint commission meeting will be held in Dhaka on May 31 this year.
The war crimes trials, extra-judicial killings, reforms in GSP, climate change and current human rights situation in Bangladesh are among the issues that are expected to figure prominently at the talks, diplomatic sources said.
The European Union (EU) has recently sent a draft agenda to the government for the upcoming joint commission meeting. The representatives from different ministries of the government will sit tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to discuss the priority issues set by the EU.
The fourth EU-Bangladesh joint commission meeting was held in Brussels in 2008.
At the meeting, the EU is likely to voice support for Bangladesh's constructive role in the international human rights forums, including the ratification of the ICC statute and for the zero tolerance policy on extra-judicial killings. The EU may also like to know from the government about the situation relating to women and children's rights and about recent developments, such as the ongoing judicial process concerning the BDR and the war crimes trials.
"Both trade and non-trade issues would be discussed at the EU-Bangladesh upcoming joint commission meeting,'' a high official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"This time, the EU is likely to show their keen interest in political and human rights issues than the trade related matters", sources said.
The issues like Chittagong peace accord, land disputes in hilly areas and military presence in hilly districts are also on the agenda of EU.
Other areas that are likely to be discussed at the meeting include health and education, non-formal primary education, Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, strengthening of public expenditure management programme, Chittagong development facility, food security and policies on climate change.
"The joint commission meeting generally evaluates the entire socio-economic perspectives of Bangladesh; assesses weaknesses and political will of the government for good governance, which are determining indicators for EU grant and further cementing of the bilateral relations," a European diplomat told the FE.
"We want to be assured the war crimes trials that would begin shortly do not violate human rights and are done in a transparent manner, maintaining the international standard", he said.
He said other issues like the public sector institutional and civil service reforms and activation of the National Human Rights Commission might be discussed at the meeting The amount of EU grant provided to the country in 2007-2008 was $69.70 million. The EU countries are the biggest export destination of Bangladesh for the last two decades, according to government data.
The fifth EU-Bangladesh joint commission meeting will be held in Dhaka on May 31 this year.
The war crimes trials, extra-judicial killings, reforms in GSP, climate change and current human rights situation in Bangladesh are among the issues that are expected to figure prominently at the talks, diplomatic sources said.
The European Union (EU) has recently sent a draft agenda to the government for the upcoming joint commission meeting. The representatives from different ministries of the government will sit tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to discuss the priority issues set by the EU.
The fourth EU-Bangladesh joint commission meeting was held in Brussels in 2008.
At the meeting, the EU is likely to voice support for Bangladesh's constructive role in the international human rights forums, including the ratification of the ICC statute and for the zero tolerance policy on extra-judicial killings. The EU may also like to know from the government about the situation relating to women and children's rights and about recent developments, such as the ongoing judicial process concerning the BDR and the war crimes trials.
"Both trade and non-trade issues would be discussed at the EU-Bangladesh upcoming joint commission meeting,'' a high official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
"This time, the EU is likely to show their keen interest in political and human rights issues than the trade related matters", sources said.
The issues like Chittagong peace accord, land disputes in hilly areas and military presence in hilly districts are also on the agenda of EU.
Other areas that are likely to be discussed at the meeting include health and education, non-formal primary education, Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, strengthening of public expenditure management programme, Chittagong development facility, food security and policies on climate change.
"The joint commission meeting generally evaluates the entire socio-economic perspectives of Bangladesh; assesses weaknesses and political will of the government for good governance, which are determining indicators for EU grant and further cementing of the bilateral relations," a European diplomat told the FE.
"We want to be assured the war crimes trials that would begin shortly do not violate human rights and are done in a transparent manner, maintaining the international standard", he said.
He said other issues like the public sector institutional and civil service reforms and activation of the National Human Rights Commission might be discussed at the meeting The amount of EU grant provided to the country in 2007-2008 was $69.70 million. The EU countries are the biggest export destination of Bangladesh for the last two decades, according to government data.