Santiago, 29/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The ministerial meetings between the EU, the Rio Group, representing 12 Latin American countries, Mercosur, Chile and Bolivia, as well as with the Andean Community all took place in Santiago, Chile, on Wednesday, in an atmosphere marked by a certain amount of bitterness on the part of the Latin Americans regarding the lack of interest the EU seems to have in them. Several diplomats remarked on the fringe of the meeting that the Fifteen were only present at ministerial level by the President-in-Office of the Council, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, and her Belgian counterpart, Louis Michel, as well as Commissioner Chris Patten. A month before the meeting of the Summit of the Americas that should rekindle the plan for a free-trade area throughout the Continent of the Americas, the Europeans do not seem to have convinced Latin America of their will to rapidly conclude free-trade agreements with Mercosur and Chile, presently under negotiations. "It would be a mistake to oblige Latin American countries to turn towards the United States", Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda told the EFE press agency. "We are tired of grand declarations of friendship, if we do not have the assurances that they will take concrete effect", Peruvian Prime Minister Javier Perez de Cuellar told Reuters.
The declaration of the EU/Rio Group, adopted at the end of the meeting, states that "ministers agreed to make all the necessary efforts with the aim of concluding negotiations (with Mercosur and Chile) as soon as possible". The Andean countries, for their part, placed pressure on the study they have been demanding for two years now on future trade relations being completed by the Madrid Summit. The parties, moreover, pleaded in favour of multilateral negotiations on agriculture and services progressing swiftly, as well as for the launch of a new comprehensive round at the ministerial meeting of the WTO in Qatar (underpinning the need to ensure transparency in the preparatory work for the meeting).
Three joint declarations adopted at the end of the work refer to preparations for the second EU/Latin America Summit, to be held in Madrid on 17 and 18 May 2002 (The declarations will soon be published in our EUROPE/Documents series). They repeat the commitment of the parties to respecting human rights, the rule of law and the principles of "good governance". The three ministerial meetings, moreover, focused on specific questions of common interest:
Information society and the rule of law at the centre of the 10th meeting of the EU/Rio Group: The 10th EU/Rio Group ministerial meeting focused its work on two subjects that will be at the centre of debates of the future Madrid Summit: "the new economy, technological gap and employment", on the basis of a paper presented by the Latin American countries, and "sustainable democracy, good governance and the reduction of poverty", on the basis of a European paper.
Commissioner Patten provided details on the preparations for concrete projects in these fields, in view of the Madrid Summit: 1) a bi-regional forum on human rights will be held in April or May 2002, preceded by a "conference of ombudsmen", to be held in Copenhagen on 27 and 28 September; 2) presentation, by the Commission, in September, of a series of projects in the framework of the Alliance with Latin America for the information society ("Alis"). The Commission should also be proposing a meeting with players in the information society (telecommunications industries, access providers, regulating bodies, financial institutions, etc.), which would be held a few weeks before the summit; 3 ) organisation of meetings between the economic and social committees of the two regions, as well as UNICE and its Latin American equivalents; 4) the holding of a meeting of social affairs ministers from the two continents just before the Madrid Summit. In the final declaration, ministers stress their convergence of views on "a certain number of projects" and their "commitment to make concrete progress in view of the Madrid Summit".
The Andean countries demand an association agreement.: the ministers of the Andean Community (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia) once again pleaded in favour of the conclusion of an association agreement between the two regions, which would, they say, enable them to count of negotiated trade concessions, instead of having to depend on unilateral EU concessions in the framework of the system of generalised preferences. More than reluctant, the EU undertook a year ago to prepare a study "of the current state of affairs and prospects for economic and trade relations between the two regions". In their joint communiqué, the two parties welcome the fact that the terms of reference of this study should have been defined and stress "the need to speed-up the realization of this study". They also consider "that it is important to prolong the system of generalised preferences, granted to the Andean region to support the fight against drugs, until a new type of relationship has been formed between the two regions.
The parties, moreover, discussed the political situation in this region marked these past few years by political instability, welcoming, in their communiqué, peace efforts in Colombia, and supporting the "consolidation of the democratic regime in Ecuador", as well as the "efforts made by the Peruvian Government to restore democracy and restore institutional order and the full respect of human rights in Peru". They also welcomed the results secured in Bolivia" in the fight against drugs, hoping that these "results will be sustained".
Interim meeting with Mercosur, Chile and Bolivia: the meeting in Santiago was mainly one of protocol, coming between the 4th round of negotiations over a free-trade agreement held in Brussels mid-March and meetings of the EU/Mercosur Cooperation Council and the EU/Chile Joint Council, to be held in Luxembourg on 26 June on the fringe of the general affairs council. In their joint press release, the parties reiterate their will to "step-up" their cooperation in developing common international stances, and to "do all that is needed to conclude trade negotiations as soon as possible"