Brussels, 15/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the General Affairs Council adopted the conclusions whereby it "welcomes the results of trade negotiations" completed last November by the European Union and Mexico.
Appeased by the declarations of the European Commission, Italy withdrew, on Monday, the reservation it had expressed during the meeting of Permanent Representatives last week. In response to two concerns expressed by Italy, the Commission pledged: i) to control the evolution of imports of concentrated orange juice and use safeguard mechanisms where necessary; ii) that the rules of origin on textiles defined especially for the EU/Mexico agreement would not constitute a precedent for later negotiations with other third countries.
Mexico's Ambassador with the EU Jaime Zabludovsky said the Council conclusions are particularly comforting in that the ministers expressed a "very positive" reaction towards the result of negotiations before their formal examination. The Commission declarations requested by Italy are, he states, conform to the agreement since all the safeguard measures on imports should be justified by the existence of real prejudice and will necessarily be followed by trade compensations.
The agreement has still to be approved formally before its is signed and before its hoped implementation on 1 July. In its conclusions, the Council stresses the "economic and political" importance of enforcing the commercial section of the agreement. The Mexican Senate, which begins its plenary session on 15 March, must still ratify the agreement, as well as the Italian, Danish and Luxembourg parliaments and the Flemish parliament in Belgium. The European Parliament was invited to give its stance in emergency procedure. The Portuguese Council Presidency hopes to be able to bring together the EU/Mexico joint Council on 23 March in Lisbon on the fringe of the extraordinary European summit. A mini-summit with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo could also be organised on this occasion, if the ratification and approval process is complete.