The Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation participates in the Forum "European Union - Overseas Countries and Territories" on behalf of the President of the Conference of Presidents of Outermost Regions. This event will take place in Brussels on January 24 and 25.

On January 24, Rodrigo Oliveira will speak at the opening session of the Forum at 10 AM, which will be attended by the European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Villy Søvndahl, and the French Minister in charge of Overseas, Marie-Luce Penchard.

On the following day, the Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation will also speak at the round table on "regional cooperation" at 11:30 AM. This session will count on the participation of the President of the Overseas Countries and Territories Association and the Members of the European Parliament, Maurice Ponga and Younous Omarjee.

The Forum "European Union - Overseas Countries and Territories" brings together representatives of European institutions from the twenty-six countries and territories (OCTs) with constitutional links to Denmark, France, Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Although not part of the European Union, the OCTs were granted the special status of "associated, which was created to promote their economic and social development.