Brussels, 21/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - After three days of discussion attended by members of the national parliaments of Latin America and a delegation from the European Parliament headed by Portuguese Socialist, Manuel Antonio Dos Santos, the 17th EU-Latin America Interparliamentary Conference held in Lima (Peru) from 14 to 16 June ended with the adoption of a final Act (in preparation for the 4th EU-Latin America summit in Vienna, in May 2006) with a view to strengthening regional and transatlantic integration and dialogue on the common concerns of companies on both continents.
The conference mainly advanced the setting in place of a real Latin-America free trade area by 2010. The final Act states: (1) negotiations for an association and trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur must be successfully concluded as soon as possible. Mr Dos Santos stressed the need for political impetus to overcome the technical difficulties that have blocked talks for almost two years now. He regretted that, once again, “figures have impressed on political will”, warning: “if the two parties do not give priority to the political will to ensure talks move forward, then the Vienna Summit will be condemned to failure”; (2) negotiations on the EU-Andean Community and EU-Central America ((San José Dialogue) association agreements should begin as soon as possible; (3) the advantages enjoyed by the Andean and Central American countries within the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) should be preserved; (4) the external debt of the Latin American countries should be better negotiated; and (5) joint investment programmes should be implemented in order to allow Latin America's integration in transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures.
In the political field, the Act of Lima takes a stance in favour of strengthening participatory democracy, regional and national institutions, and open and democratic political parties. As the gap between citizens and leaders and political parties grows greater all the time, with serious consequences for the democratic system, the Act of Lima encourages pedagogical efforts so that politics is seen as an essential instrument for institutional change and the strengthening of political parties, able to serve as a medium for conveying the concerns and needs of citizens. Spanish Socialist Rosa Diez Gonzalez made suggestions on this with a view to improving the image that citizens have of the political parties and their leaders. As strong institutions are a guarantee of better globalisation management, the Lima conference focused on the creation of a Euro-Latin America Assembly which - composed of members of the European Parliament, regional parliaments and the national congresses of Mexico and Chile after the fashion of what exists between Europe and the Euromed area countries - would serve as a framework for bilateral relations. On the European side, this idea was above all defended by Mr Dos Santos and José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP) of Spain. Also, measures aimed at strengthening dialogue between the two continents were envisaged: - the creation of a permanent secretariat responsible for encouraging interparliamentary work, the elaboration of a Euro-Latin America Charter for Peace and Security, and a bi-regional conflict prevention centre.
In the environmental, social and development cooperation fields, the Act of Lima recommends that innovative financial mechanisms be set in place to promote social cohesion. One such mechanism is the Bi-regional Solidarity Fund (with an initial EUR 500 million) whose activities would be geared to the funding of programmes to combat poverty, health, education and infrastructures in the countries and regions where per capita income is particularly low and where social inequalities are the most ingrained. Furthermore, the Act of Lima condemns any form of exploitation of children and violence against women and calls on the Vienna Summit to adopt joint commitments to put a brake on “ethnic nationalism” (in some countries on the South-American side, this tendency is mainly the result of centuries of neglect of the indigenous population). On environmental issues, the Act of Lima calls on the EU to provide a financial and technical contribution to the protection of biodiversity in South America, and suggests to this effect that specific programmes be launched to promote sustainable production processes (mainly in indigenous areas). In this context, French Green member Alain Lipietz called on the EU to show technical and financial solidarity so that the countries of Latin America that have renounced using polluting energy may truly gain access to clean technologies.
Finally, concerned by recent events in Bolivia and Ecuador, the signatories of the final Act call on these two countries to move forward along the road towards Rule of Law, strengthened democratic institutions and greater social cohesion.