Brussels, 07/02/2008 (Agence Europe) - Peru, which will host the 5th EU-Latin America and Caribbean summit from 13-17 May 2008, wants to break with the pattern of previous summits which have seen the adoption of fine words followed by very little effect. It wants to give direction to the meetings between European, Latin American and Caribbean leaders, make them understandable to the man or woman in the street. It will present the 60 countries of the bi-regional association with a thematic roadmap and the “Lima Agenda against Poverty”, which will contain concrete targets to be achieved - the implementation of which will be monitored on the ground and followed up at future biennial summits. Jorge Valdez Carrillo, Peruvian Ambassador to the EU, spoke to EUROPE about the issues on the Lima summit agenda (see EUROPE 9523). He also took stock of the on-going negotiations between the EU and the Andean Community (CAN), which is likely to lead, maybe even this year, to the signing of an association agreement.
Valdez Carrillo spoke of the usefulness of the previous summits which had identified the “shared values and principles”, such as democracy, human rights, multilateralism and regional integration, that united European, Latin American and Caribbean partners. He said that the Lima summit “would mark the start of a new phase … where we can leave summits, where we make statements about what unites us and decide what we can do for the future”. Equality and social integration will be the first of the two main themes of the meeting. “In Europe, it is only a minority of the population that is not integrated. In Latin America, there are large sections of the population which are not benefiting from the advantages of the system. We need, therefore, a policy to include them in the system. It is not about combating exclusion, but creating ways to bring them into, and make them part of, society,” he said.
The second major theme is sustainable development, combating climate change and energy. “Latin America is living a paradox. It does not have high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. However, it directly suffers the consequences of climate change,” Valdez Carrillo observed. He spoke of the melting of the Peruvian glaciers, when his country “is highly dependent on hydro-electricity, just like the other countries in the region”, and the sea current El Niño, which hits the Peruvian coastline every three or four years, disrupting fishing and causing droughts in some regions of the country and flooding in others. He pointed out that such events could “knock four or five points off GDP”, as had happened in the 1980s and 90s. He also spoke of the efforts being made to protect the 60% of Peru that is within the Amazonian forest from the effects of climate change, over which Peru had no direct control.
Would the issue of access to water be discussed in Lima? “Of course, we cannot not discuss it if we talk about poverty,” Valdez Carrillo said. There could be no social cohesion, he said, if there was no access to this essential resource. “There is no more expensive water, than the water which we don't have, which is being lost,” he said, adding, “The water bought by someone who lives in a slum district of any Latin American country costs more than a bottle of Perrier or Evian here. Why? Because it has to be bought from a transporter/distributor”.
In Brussels on 7 and 8 February, high ranking European and Latin American officials will meet to prepare for the Lima summit. Praising the “seriousness” and “professionalism” of the Slovenian presidency, Valdez Carrillo hoped that the draft declaration and roadmap would be discussed at this preparatory meeting, the second last before the summit. It is for the Latin American and Caribbean countries, working from an initial proposal from the Peruvian authorities, to make a proposal on the roadmap.
Andean Community. When asked about progress in negotiations between the EU and the CAN on signing an association agreement (see EUROPE 9447), the Peruvian ambassador said that they were progressing satisfactorily and could be concluded “this year”. “We, at the Peruvian Embassy at least, are satisfied with the progress made,” he said. The political dialogue and cooperation agreement signed in 2003 between the CAN and the EU, which does not have a trade chapter, forms the basis for negotiations between the two partners (see EUROPE 8562). Nevertheless, there can be no agreement on anything so long as there is no agreement on everything. Valdez Carrillo alluded to the impatience of the Peruvian authorities about the pace of the talks and the ambition of certain partners. “Peru believes that we could go much more quickly in negotiations. That does not mean that we do not acknowledge the progress made. However, as far as we are concerned, we could, in future, go further than some of our members,” he said. Expressing the view that not all of the parties had to reach the same agreement at the same time, he said that it was “natural” that those countries which could reach agreement more quickly should be able to do so. “If the opposite was the case, we would be working on what we could call the lowest common denominator, and that isn't fair,” he argued. Is Peru still a member of the CAN? Ambassador Valdez Carrillo was clear: “Peru is a member of the Andean Community. Peru is part of the process”. He concluded by quoting the Peruvian trade minister, who said that as long as the process is progressing, Peru will continue to progress with it. (M.B.)