Staff Reporter:
Negotiations on Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CPA) between European Union (EU) and Bangladesh will be finalized soon, visiting Acting Managing Director for Asia-Pacific at the European External Action Service (EEAS) Paola Pampaloni said yesterday.
Pampaloni revealed the matter when she paid a courtesy call on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka yesterday, Chief Adviser’s Press Wing said yesterday.
During the meeting, they discussed a wide range of issues covering Bangladesh–EU relations, including negotiations on the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), the upcoming general elections and referendum, combating illegal migration, and expanding trade and in-vestment.
Pampaloni mentioned that the initiation of negotiations on the Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CPA) in November 2024 came after 20 years during which time there was a general partnership agree-ment.
She congratulated the Chief Adviser for the “incredible and massive” work he has undertaken since as-suming leadership of the interim government in August last year, particularly in carrying out important reforms to which the European Union, as Bangladesh’s political and largest commercial partner, attaches great importance, and ensuring peace and stability at a critical juncture for the country.
“It was remarkable. It was very closely followed and appreciated by the European Union,” Pampaloni said, adding that when the interim government took office, the ambition for reforms was huge.
The senior EU official welcomed the progress made on the PCA between the EU and Bangladesh. She said the pact would pave the way for deeper ties between the two partners and open up significant oppor-tunities in trade and investment.
In response, Professor Yunus thanked the EU for its sustained support to the interim government over the past 17 months.
He described the PCA as one of the most important agreements for Bangladesh and said it would “solidi-fy” Bangladesh–EU relations.
Pampaloni noted that the EU attached top priority to its relationship with Bangladesh, reflected in its decision to deploy a significant, high-level election observation mission to monitor the February 12 gen-eral elections.
She said the head of the EU Election Observation Mission would arrive in Bangladesh later this week and is expected to hold a series of meetings with political leaders and relevant authorities.
Professor Yunus said both the February 12 general elections and the referendum were crucial for Bang-ladesh’s democratic transition. He noted that political parties have endorsed the July Charter and ex-pressed confidence that they would campaign for “yes” votes in the referendum.
“I don’t think any party will seek a ‘no’ vote,” he said.
The Chief Adviser reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring that the vote would be free, fair, participa-tory, and peaceful.
“People in this country have not been able to vote in free and fair elections for the past 16 years under autocratic rule. This time, they will vote in a festive manner,” he added.
Pampaloni stressed the importance of a peaceful election, saying Bangladesh–EU relations could reach new heights following a successful democratic transition, ushering in a new era of engagement between Dhaka and the world’s largest economic bloc.
Lutfey Siddiqi, Special Envoy of the Chief Adviser, and Lamiya Morshed, SDG Coordinator and Senior Secretary, and Michael Miller, the European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh, among others, were pre-sent at the meeting.
