The council considered a wide range of issues that included discussions on the external representation of member states and progress towards the realization of an OECS Single Domestic Space.
The second Meeting of the OECS Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers was convened in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on May 8, under the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Hon. Sir Louis Straker.
Minister Straker accepted the mantle of chairmanship of the council from the outgoing chairman, Hon. Alva Baptiste, Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia.
The outgoing chairman pointed to the achievements of the OECS during his tenure, including the accession of Martinique to membership of the Organization, and the leadership role played by the region in championing the cause of Small Island Developing States at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which took place in Paris in December 2015.
The incoming chairman expressed the hope that the council would continue to address the business of the OECS in an efficacious manner.
The second Meeting of the OECS Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers was convened against the backdrop of profound and dramatic changes taking place on the geopolitical front and offered the ministers the opportunity to contribute to the process of designing and fashioning responses to the challenges confronting the region as a result of those changes. The council considered a wide range of issues including the external representation of member states, relations with third states, progress towards the realization of the OECS Single Domestic Space, United Nations matters, relations with the EU post-Cotonou, and matters relating to hemispheric institutions such as the ACS, CELAC and the OAS.
The council committed itself to remain engaged on these and other matters under its purview.
