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Sri Lankan delegation holds talks with EU Commissioner

A Sri Lankan delegationÂ had talks with EU CommissionerÂ Christos Stylanides inÂ Brussels.

The delegation included Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana andÂ Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic DevelopmentÂ Dr. Harsha de Silva.

Â â€œHad a series of very successful meetings with Senior EU officials. Here with Minister Thilak Marapana and officials with Christos Stylanides EU Commissioner,â€ Dr. Harsha de Silva said in a Facebook post.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry said thatÂ the Sri Lankan delegation also held discussions with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

Â The Foreign Minister conveyed appreciation to the European Union for restoration of the GSP+ facility to Sri Lanka. It was noted that as the EU is Sri Lankaâ€™s largest trading partner with an annual trade turnover of over USD 5 billion and that the GSP+ facility would provide for a significant increase in Sri Lankaâ€™s exports to the EU market. At the meeting the European Commission announced that an additional sum of Euro 40 million will be allocated shortly for trade facilitation and to support Sri Lankaâ€™s reconciliation efforts.

The EU High Representative and Commissioner Stylianides welcomed the significant improvements that have taken place in Sri Lanka since the election of the new Government and expressed their confidence in the ability of the Government to continue to honour commitments arising from GSP+ requirements despite the apparent slow progress in some areas of concern.

Foreign Minister Marapana exchanged views on areas of mutual concern related to improving human rights standards through reform of legislation to bring it in line with international standards and the implementation of the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka.

Foreign Minister Marapana reiterated that since the election of the present Government under the leadership of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that a bipartisan approach is being taken by the two major political parties to address issues of national importance and that new mechanisms have been introduced in Parliament to have wider consultations with all political parties on bringing about reforms.

Â He stated that this process takes more time but the Government is firmly committed to respecting human rights and making progress in the implementation of its international obligations. Foreign Minister Marapana explained to the EU High Representative and Commissioner Stylianides progress being made on constitutional reforms.

Discussion also took place on the new security challenges, particularly global terrorism and the need for closer cooperation between Sri Lanka and the EU in this area. The Foreign Minister also discussed regional bilateral issues. The EU leaders emphasized that the Indian Ocean region was an area of particular priority to the EU.