St. Maarten, as a member of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union, has accepted presidency of the Audit Committee of the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union (OCTA).
Representing St. Maarten in the Audit Committee is Carol Voges, Head of Finance and Economic Affairs at the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary of St. Maarten. The acceptance of the presidency occurred at the 11th OCT Ministerial Conference in Ilulissat, Greenland. The other members of the Audit Committee were the Falkland Islands and the Cayman Islands. The Audit Committee of the OCTA meets once a year before the Ministerial Conference to audit the organization’s financial statements of the previous year.
OCTA – the of Overseas Countries and Territories Association – was established as a non-profit organization in 2002 and has since worked to coordinate OCTs’ views with respect to a common position to be taken in relation to matters dealing with the OCTs vis-à-vis the Commission and the Member States.
Each year a Ministerial Meeting between the ministers of the OCTs and a Tripartite Forum between the Member States, the Commission and the OCTs are held. The Ministerial Meeting sets out the visions, strategy and action plan that is subsequently implemented by the ExCo while the Forum outlines the visions for cooperation between the parties. This January at the 10th OCT-EU Forum Greenland became Chair of the 2012 Ministerial Meeting.