Brussels, 16/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU27 Council of trade ministers reached agreement in principle in Brussels on Friday 16 March to sign and provisionally implement the free trade deal between the EU and Colombia and Peru, a deal initialled on 23 March 2011. The ministers will formalise the decision over the next few weeks after technical details have been sorted out by legal and language experts. The agreement will then go to the European Parliament for its assent (for both signing the deal and putting it into provisional application). Informal talks are already underway with the EP's international trade committee. It is possible that the EP will give its agreement at the September plenary. Signature and provisional application of the agreement is also needed in Colombia and Peru. EU sources suggest the EU's free trade deal with Colombia and Peru could provisionally come into force later this year.
The tripartite EU-Colombia-Peru free trade deal includes the scrapping of high customs tariffs, the removal of technical obstacles to trade, liberalisation of the services market, protection of the EU's geographical indications, an opening of public procurement markets, a dispute settlement system and commitments to implement labour rights and environmental standards. It is based on the idea of regional integration and it will therefore be possible for Ecuador and Bolivia, the other two members of the Andean Community, to join it. Ecuador and Bolivia left the talks in 2008, which were then part of wider talks on a region-to-region association agreement launched in 2007 and including political dialogue, cooperation and exchanges. (EH/transl.fl)