Quito Declaration
Special Meeting of the Andean Council of Presidents
June 13, 2006 - Quito, Ecuador 

The Presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, gathered at the Special Meeting of the Andean Council of Presidents held in Quito on June 13, 2006, agreed to: 

Reaffirm their integrationist vocation and their steadfast decision to continue strengthening and consolidating the Andean Community and deepening their foreign relations; 

Formally state that the principles and objectives of Andean integration are fully effective and are unequivocally oriented toward the attainment of the nations’ harmonious development within a framework of democracy, social justice and respect for human rights; 

Emphasize that in today’s world characterized by globalization, interdependence and information technologies, subregional integration is a suitable mechanism for joint external efforts to defend their legitimate interests and assure their best possible participation in world markets; 

Reiterate the Andean Community’s decision to start negotiations aimed at signing an Association Agreement with the European Union that would include a trade agreement, political dialogue and cooperation programs and would be based on the traditional principles and pillars on which their bioregional relations rest;   

Hail the importance of the elections recently held in Colombia and Peru and congratulate the Bolivian people on their progress toward holding a Constitutional Convention, as demonstrations of the political maturity and democratic vocation of those nations that reinforce Andean Community principles and convictions; 

Underscore the need for the prompt entry into effect of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the Andean Community and the European Union signed on December 16, 2003 that will strengthen the conclusion of the biregional Association Agreement; 

Point up the commitment of the Member Countries to fight drug trafficking and terrorism, as well as the huge efforts made in this terrain and the positive results obtained at great human and economic cost; 

Stress their determination to attack the structural causes of migration, poverty, social exclusion and environmental conservation.    

GUIDING PRINCIPLES 

In implementing the agreements enshrined in the Vienna Declaration of May 12, 2006, the Andean Community Member Countries will carry out the work plan approved at the Twentieth Meeting of the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers in enlarged session with the Representatives to the Commission, in order to clarify and define, with the European Union by this coming July 20 at the latest, the bases for negotiating an Association Agreement that would include a political dialogue, cooperation programs and a trade agreement.    

The Member Countries will be represented in these efforts by their Alternate Representatives to the Commission and Vice-Ministers of Foreign Affairs, according to the specific matters to be addressed.  In the particular case of Bolivia, the country will be represented by delegates appointed for that purpose.    

The proposed bases for the negotiations upon which the Member Countries agree will be presented to the European Union during the first half of July 2006, at the latest, in accordance with the agreed timetable.     

Signed in the city of Quito, Ecuador, on the thirteenth of June of two thousand and six.    

EVO MORALES AYMA
President of the Republic of Bolivia

ÁLVARO URIBE VÉLEZ
President of the Republic of Colombia

ALFREDO PALACIO GONZÁLEZ
President of the Republic of Ecuador

ALEJANDRO TOLEDO MANRIQUE
President of the Republic of Peru