The proposal was made by Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa during a strategic bilateral meeting with his co-president of the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, Francisco Assis, at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium.
During the meeting, Tayebwa invited Assis to visit the East African region and formally proposed Uganda as the host of the 2027 sitting of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
The leaders also discussed the ratification and implementation of the Samoa Agreement, the 20-year legal framework that governs relations between the European Union and the 79 member states of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).
The agreement provides a framework for cooperation in key areas including trade, human rights, climate change, migration, sustainable development and economic cooperation.
“As Co-Presidents, we pledged to continue working together and exchanged views on strengthening cooperation between the European Union and the nations of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific from a parliamentary perspective,” Tayebwa said.
The Deputy Speaker was accompanied by Uganda’s Ambassador to the European Union, Mirjam Blaak.
The OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly brings together legislators from European Union member states and countries within the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States to deliberate on political, economic, social and development issues affecting both regions.
Uganda’s bid to host the 2027 assembly reflects the country’s growing focus on parliamentary diplomacy and its commitment to strengthening engagement with European and ACP partners under the Samoa Agreement.
If successful, hosting the assembly would provide Uganda with an opportunity to showcase its role in regional and international parliamentary cooperation while facilitating dialogue on issues of mutual interest between the European Union and OACPS member states.