Somalia Piracy Contact Group holds its 16th Plenary Session

EU News 226/2014

Brussels, 16 May 2014
140516/01

The Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) held its Sixteenth Plenary Session at the UN Headquarters in New York on 14 May 2014 under the Chairmanship of the European Union. On this occasion Deputy Secretary General Maciej Popowski said: "The Contact Group on piracy is unique. It is a laboratory for innovative multilateral governance to address complex international issues. The great thing is that it is delivering."

(...)

The Contact Group endorsed a series of measures to streamline and refine the CGPCS structures and working procedures with a view to making the CGPCS more cost-efficient and to increase regional participation and representation through a system of co-chairing arrangements for its Working Groups. The working groups, three in total, are going to focus on capacity building in Somalia and in the region; maritime counter-piracy and mitigation operations; disrupting pirate networks ashore.

Very concrete and positive results have been achieved in the fight against piracy over the last few years. That said, there are still far too many innocent seafarers being held hostage by pirates in appalling conditions and the reduction in attacks is entirely reversible as the strategic situation (in Somalia) has not changed. The piracy business model is fractured, not broken. The threat remains. The international community, industry and all stakeholders are urged to maintain their efforts in the fight against piracy.

Source and additional information:
http://eeas.europa.eu/statements/docs/2014/140516_01_en.pdf

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