July 3: The European Union and Nepal held the 10th meeting of their bi-annual joint commission on June 28 in Brussels.

The participants discussed a wide range of issues of mutual interest, reads a joint press statement issued recently.

During the meeting, EU congratulated Nepal for successfully holding the local, provincial and federal elections in 2017 terming them as major political milestone. The EU informed the Nepali delegation of recent political developments in the EU, including the new Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in the field of security and defence, and several other policy initiatives. The Nepali side shared plans and priorities of its government for the forthcoming period.

Nepal informed the EU delegation that, with the completion of elections, the constitution had come into full operation. The Nepali delegation also outlined its strategies of graduation from Least- Developed-Country (LDC) status.

The EU and Nepal also took stock of the implementation of the ongoing cooperation, and expressed their satisfaction at the progress made in various areas of cooperation particularly in the education sector (primary, secondary and vocational education) as well as in nutrition, where Nepal is pioneering the multi-sector nutrition plan and in rural development by adding value to certain products like coffee to stimulate job creation and the growth of economy. Both parties concurred that such cooperation should continue to be guided by government’s priority areas.

On the occasion of the joint commission meeting, both parties signed the Financing Agreement for the EU Contribution to Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) in Nepal worth €40 million of which €36 million has been earmarked for budget support and €3.75 million for complementary measures. In addition, under the School Sector Development Programme (SSDP), the EU released the amount of €19.094 million under the budget support modality to the treasury of Nepal. This payment constitutes a part of the overall €61.4 million EU support to Nepal’s School Sector Development Plan.

Both parties discussed the macro-economic situations in the EU and in Nepal respectively. There was also an in-depth exchange on their trade relations, where they reiterated the importance for Nepal of taking greater advantage of trade preferences granted to Nepal by the EU under the Everything But Arms scheme (EBA).

The EU reiterated its continued support to enhancing Nepal’s trading capacity including through trade facilitation measures, and product development. Investment opportunities under the Asia Investment Facility and cooperation with the European Investment Bank were also discussed.

Air safety was also on the agenda, with both parties aiming to address outstanding safety and security issues. The EU congratulated Nepal on the significant increasing interest and successful application of Nepali students in the Erasmus+ programme.

The joint commission meeting was co-chaired by Paola Pampaloni, EEAS deputy managing director for Asia and Pacific, for the European Union and Shanker Das Bairagi, foreign secretary of Nepal. The next EU-Nepal Joint Commission will take place in Nepal in 2020.