Honourable Ms. Nita Deerpalsing, Member of Parliament of Mauritius and Member of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), is our guest this week. At the occasion of the JPA meeting held in Brussels, Ms. Deerpalsing shared with us the role, objectives and the functions of the JPA, a consultative assembly key in the EU-ACP cooperation. For two years, Ms. Deerpalsing is Vice-Chair of the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment. From her point of view, the social impact of economic crisis and social and environmental consequences of climate change are two key issues which the ACP countries face. Mauritius in particular, although a relatively prosperous country with solid institutions, is prone to lose everything in extreme weather brought by climate change. While mitigation strategies and adaptation should be implemented, future development of less developed countries should be also sustainable. The global crisis has indeed a strong social impact in ACP countries, as today one billion people suffer hunger and therefore cannot contribute to the prosperity of their country.

The 2966th Council meeting on Agriculture and Fisheries held in Luxembourg on 19 October 2009 reached political agreement on a regulation establishing a modernised system for inspection, monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement of the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy throughout the market chain, "from net to plate".

MEPs agreed to set up a special committee on the financial and economic crisis with 45 members and a 12-month mandate. It will assess the extent and impact of the crisis on Member States and propose measures to rebuild stable financial markets.