Brussels, 14/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, confirmed on Tuesday that concluding negotiations on association and free trade between the EU and Chile at the EU/Latin America/Caribbean Summit on 17-18 May was an "ambitious but attainable" objective. He pointed out that after the eighth round of negotiations (see EUROPE 2 February page 11 and 26 January page 9) there was still a lot of work that needed doing on wines and spirits, fishing, services, investment and patent rights. Commissioner Patten indicated that although current negotiations with Mercosur were necessarily more complex, they had been carried out in a constructive manner with both sides being very understanding of their respective difficulties. Mr Patten pointed out that in the context of the current Argentinian crisis, the General Affairs Council confirmed on 28 January its commitment to negotiating an Association Agreement (see EUROPE 28-29 January page 8).
At the second European Civil Society Conference on the negotiation process between the EU, Chile and Mercosur, Patten declared that the agreements were going beyond trade. He indicated that the Commission intends to carry out a Sustainability Impact Assessment on the projected agreement being negotiated with Mercosur, in line with the Communication on the challenges brought about by globalisation, adopted on Wednesday by the Commission (see yesterday's edition of EUROPE page 5). Commissioner Patten claimed that given that the public would be able to add their comments on this assessment, the Commission should be able to analyse the consequences of the interaction between trade relations, environmental protection and social development. Representatives from the European Trade Union Confederation made an appeal at the conference for the future agreement to include a chapter on the respect for rights at work and include a reference on the international conventions on work.
Mr Patten indicated that during the EU/Latin America Summit in Madrid, he intended to stress tow points: the contribution of the two continents in strengthening the multilateral system and reducing social inequalities. He declared that the Commission was working closely with the Spanish Presidency to encourage frank and open discussion on this subject at the summit.