Brussels, 25/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - Cooperation and regional integration, preparations for the EU Summit to be held in New York in September and the various aspects of social cohesion in Latin and Central America will be on the agenda of the 12th ministerial meeting between the European Union and the 19 member countries of the Rio Group, currently chaired by Argentina (on the basis of annual rotation), to be held this Thursday and Friday in Luxembourg. The European and South American ministers will discuss the future of relations between the EU and the Rio Group and take stock of fourteen years of dialogue between the two regions since the first meeting of this kind was held in Luxembourg in April 1991, within the context of the declaration of Rome of 20 December 1990, which institutionalised relations between the EU and the Rio Group.
On 26 May, ministerial meetings will be held between the EU and the various regional sub-groups of Latin and Central America. The European Troika, made up of Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana and chaired by the Luxembourg foreign minister Jean Asselborn, will take part in:
the 2nd Association Council between the EU and Chile, co-chaired by the Chilean Ignacio Walker. The association agreement signed in Brussels in November 2002 provides for increased cooperation between the EU and Chile in the political and economic fields;
the 21st ministerial meeting of the San José dialogue between the EU and Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Salvador, Panama, Belize), co-chaired by the foreign minister of Honduras and current president of the group of Central American countries, Leonidas Rosa Bautista. Talks will focus notably on regional integration issues;
the 4th joint Council between the EU and Mexico, co-chaired by Ernesto Derbez Bautista of Mexico. EU/Mexico relations are governed by an association agreement which entered into force on 1 October 2000. The ministers will tackle political dialogue issues, especially the forthcoming UN Summit, and dialogue with the civil society;
the ministerial meeting between the EU and the Andine Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela), co-chaired by the Peruvian minister. Official cooperation between the EU and the Andine Community dates back to the signature of a framework-agreement in 1993, which entered into force in 1998. A new political dialogue and cooperation agreement signed in Rome in December 2003 paved the way for the conclusion of an association/free-trade agreement between the two regions. Ministers will discuss bilateral relations, the political situation and the regional integration process of the Andine Community;
the ministerial meeting with Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), co-chaired by Leila Rachid de Cowles of Paraguay. Up for discussion are inter-regional political dialogue, recent developments in the regional integration process for each side, economic exchanges and cooperation. The issue of resuming negotiations on a trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, which has been at deadlock since the meeting in Lisbon on 21 October last year (EUROPE 8812), will also be tackled by both sides, who will underline the importance of returning to the negotiating table, but are unlikely to set a precise time-table for the next stages, as this will stem from future negotiations between Europeans and South Americans at expert level.