Brussels, 25/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Andean Community (Comunidad Andina or CAN) has been more divided than ever this week in Brussels. On one side, the European Commission has continued talks with Colombia and Peru with a view to moving forward towards the signing of a trade agreement. On the other, Bolivia and Ecuador, which have pulled out of the talks, attended an alternative forum at the European Parliament last Wednesday, denouncing the free-trade model at the initiative of European and Latin-American social NGOs. The ambassador of Ecuador, Fernando Yépez-Lasso, underlined how important it was for the EU to recognise the specificities of the Andean countries. Instead of that, he said, Europeans continue to put pressure on in favour of regional integration. He bemoaned the fact that Europeans believe “it is better to have a five-country market rather than a one- or two-country market”. According to Bolivian Ambassador Christian Inchauste, “there is no harm in breaking with certain paradigms” - an “inflexible and unshakeable” focus on certain models can create problems as “GDP is not everything in life”. He said that, in the context of the EU/CAN talks Bolivia had already asked for development asymmetry to be recognised and civil society to be incorporated into the talks. Bolivia also considers that natural resources inherited from the nourishing earth (“Pachamama”) must ensure the wellbeing of local populations above all else. Hence the revalorisation of public revenue from taxation of foreign gas companies, negotiated by Evo Morales. “We want trade but we do not want a free trade treaty”, Mr Inchauste stressed, expressing surprise that the EU, in the middle of the financial crisis, calls on Andean countries to liberalise their financial sector.
Speaking on behalf of the Transnational Institute, Cecilia Olivet said the European argument whereby signing economic cooperation agreements with the EU promotes the regional integration process was just “rhetoric”. “In reality, Andean integration has been greatly compromised”, she said. According to Laura Rangel, from the Recalca network of Colombian organisations, talks between the EU and the Andean Community must stop, as they have never comprised the three pillars announced (political cooperation, socio-economic development, trade). “We have alternative proposals but these are rejected. This is not dialogue but intransigence”, she deplored. Participants also slammed inclusion in EU/CAN trade talks of certain so-called “Singapore” issues (e.g.: intellectual property, services, etc.). (M.B./transl.jl)