Press Service
Office of the President of the Republic of Colombia
Lima, May 17, 2008

The agreement would provide for trade, political dialogue and cooperation pillars.   After establishing this starting point, countries would be given the flexibility of deciding on which of the pillars they would base their entry into the association agreement between the two economic blocs, President Álvaro Uribe explained at the conclusion of a meeting of CAN Presidents and Foreign Ministers with representatives of the European Union.    

(SP) A Framework Agreement will clear the way for more rapid progress toward an association agreement between the Andean Community and the European Union.   

The conclusion reached by the meeting of Andean Community (CAN) Presidents and Foreign Ministers, held on Saturday, May 17 in Lima, Peru, is that “a framework agreement should be defined and that underpinning this agreement are three pillars: those of trade, political dialogue and cooperation,” President Álvaro Uribe Vélez declared.    

According to the Head of State, as of the adoption of the framework agreement, the countries would have the flexibility of choosing on which pillar or pillars to base their association agreement.   

During the session, attended by, in representation of Colombia, the Foreign Minister, Fernando Araujo; the Director of National Planning, Carolina Rentaría; and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, Luis Guillermo Plata, the delegates representing the European Union explained that “they cannot exclude subsystems from the trade chapter, but that what they can do is to give longer periods for the negotiation of one or another issue,” the President went on to add.   

During their meeting with the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and with the European Union Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the Presidents of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Vélez, and of Peru, Alan García, reiterated their intention of negotiating as a bloc --in other words, as the Andean Community.   

They explained, however, that just as the economic and social integration body should not be allowed to weaken, so, also, obstacles should not be placed in the path of the negotiation of the agreement between the CAN and the European Union.   

“Just as Peru and Colombia cannot impose on Ecuador and Bolivia, (it is necessary for) the Governments of Ecuador and Bolivia, entering into the framework agreement, to permit Peru and Colombia (…) to move ahead more rapidly” in the association agreement with the European Union, Uribe Vélez explained.