Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rohitha Bogollagama, today (06 Nov) handed over a document containing Sri Lanka’s observations on the European Commission’s (EC) report on GSP +, to the Heads of Missions of the EU member states represented in Colombo together with individually addressed letters to his counterparts in the EU member countries.

A similar letter addressed to the President of the European Commission was also handed over to the Head of Delegation of the Commission in Sri Lanka.

The document is titled “Observations of the GOSL in respect of the Report on the findings of the investigation with respect to the effective implementation of certain human rights conventions in Sri Lanka”.

The Minister said this would facilitate the continued constructive engagement on the relevant issues between the Government of Sri Lanka and the institutions of the European Union.


Following is the media release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs


Sri Lanka’s observations on EC GSP Plus report handed over

Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama handed over today (6 November 2009) to the Heads of Missions of the EU member states represented in Colombo, individually addressed letters to his counterparts in the EU member countries, together with a copy of the document captioned “Observations of the GOSL in respect of the Report on the findings of the investigation with respect to the effective implementation of certain human rights conventions in Sri Lanka”. A similar letter addressed to the President of the European Commission was also handed over to the Head of Delegation of the Commission in Sri Lanka.

The Minister recalled to the Heads of Mission that in view of the importance Sri Lanka attaches to her relations with the European Union, President Mahinda Rajapaksa had assigned four members of the Cabinet, namely the Ministers of Export Development & International Trade, of Disaster Management & Human Rights, of Justice & Law Reforms and Foreign Affairs to analyze the European Commission Report of 19th October, 2009. Minister Bogollagama in conclusion expressed confidence that the Observations provided by the Government of Sri Lanka would be extensively examined by the European Commission and the findings reflected in its recommendation to the Council of the European Union. This he said would facilitate the continued constructive engagement on the relevant issues between the Government of Sri Lanka and the institutions of the European Union.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Colombo
6th November 2009