Brussels, 10/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - The new Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EUROLAT), whose creation had been proposed by the European elected representative of Partido popular, José Ignacio Salafranca, and backed by the EU/Latin America Summit in Vienna, was created in Brussels on 8 November. During the inaugural session, attended by President Borrell, Ignacio Salafranca (EP-ED, Spain) and Ney Lopes (President of the Latin American Parliament) were elected joint presidents. The Assembly is composed of 120 members of the European Parliament, the Latin American parliament, the Central American parliament and Andean parliament, and also members of Mercosur's joint parliamentary committee and national representatives from the Mexican and Chilean parliaments (Julio Guillermo Gamarra, Vice-President of the Central American parliament, expressed the hope that the number of EUROLAT members would be increased - some say there should be 150 to “ensure equitable representation of Mercosur, Chile and Mexico”). The Assembly, inspired by the ACP/EU Joint Assembly and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA), has three standing committees. The first one deals with political, security and human rights matters, the second with economic and financial matters, and the third takes into account matters related to environment, social issues, education and culture.
After his election, José Ignacio Salafranca expressed the hope that EUROLAT would become a true “political arm” in relations between the two regions, whereas Ney Lopes recalled that the new Assembly replaces the “older uninterrupted interparliamentary forum (…) which dates back to 1974”, a Parliament press release states. Josep Borrell pointed out: “Our relations do not only concern free trade. We want an association for a common future based on shared values”. With Europe, “we have historic, cultural and linguistic links that give our relations special significance”, said Enrique Iglesias, Head of the Spanish-American General Secretariat. In more concrete terms, Lourdes-Mendoza, Vice President of Peru, hoped that Europe would give tangible proof of the importance that it attributes to these relations, for example, by approving a mandate in three months' time for negotiation of an association agreement and by showing proof of generosity in helping the region, either through the European Investment Bank or the Community budget. (mg)