Source: Press Division, Office of the President of the Republic of Ecuador
Guayaquil, October 14, 2008

The Andean Community will ask the European Union to attend a high-level meeting where the terms can be defined for the Agreement on Political and Trade Negotiations between the two blocs. 

So announced the President of the Republic, Rafael Correa, at the conclusion today of the CAN Special Summit held in Guayaquil. 

He explained that the Governments of Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru have expressed their desire to move ahead with their negotiations with the EU, preferably as a bloc, but always within a flexible framework that can be adjusted to each country’s needs and sovereign decisions.  

Correa admitted that the Andean integration process is not at its best right now, but that, even so, it had been agreed at the Guayaquil meeting to set up a Committee of Presidential Representatives to formulate proposals for giving a new impetus to the CAN, based on the opinions of the political, social and business sectors in each country.

"The situation is fairly complicated and could adversely affect the Subregion’s entire integration process,” the Head of State announced, noting that the CAN’s current crisis has intensified in recent months due to growing diplomatic tensions between Ecuador and Colombia, the signing of Free Trade Agreements between Peru and Colombia and the United States, and Venezuela’s withdrawal from the CAN.   

According to the President’s explanation, above and beyond these difficulties, the meeting today was a success, for it had been unanimously agreed there to urgently request a meeting with the EU, at which the Community can express its desire to advance with the Negotiation Agreement as a bloc, while maintaining flexible margins for Ecuador and Bolivia, particularly as regards trade. 

"There is a desire to continue negotiating as a bloc,” he pointed out, after explaining that the CAN’s objective is to hold the meeting with the EU between October 28 and 30 in El Salvador, the host for the next Ibero-American Summit.