Brussels, 26/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 May, the EU and Mexico agreed to start bilateral negotiations in June with a view to reviewing their strategic partnership agreement.
“The European Union and Mexico will start negotiations next month, in June, on a new agreement aimed at responding to their common aspirations and obligations in step with the 21st Century - an agreement providing for stronger political dialogue, increased cooperation on global challenges, and intended to engender new opportunities for our economic operators and investors”, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini stated. With regard to trade issues, Mogherini said that the ambition of the Europeans should be at the level of that shown in their negotiations with the USA and Canada, and she underlined the European readiness to move forwards quickly but without neglecting the quality of the discussions.
The previous day, the Foreign Affairs Council gave a mandate to the European Commission and European External Action Service (EEAS) to negotiate the review of the bilateral agreement that underpins relations between the EU and Mexico. This step, which comes nearly a year after the last EU-Mexico summit gave its green light to launching the process for modernising the comprehensive agreement (see EUROPE 11334), was described as “the start of a new chapter” by Mexico's foreign minister Ruiz Massieu. In Massieu's view, the EU and Mexico share “values” such as “human rights, the rule of law and free trade”.
With regard to human rights, and more precisely the investigation into the disappearance of around 40 students in Iguala, Mogherini said she was “very encouraged” by the announcement that an independent mechanism for following up on the case was being established, and she hoped the recommendations of the Mexican government to correct the weaknesses observed in the public action would be “applied in close collaboration with the families of the victims”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)