EU-CAN High Level Meeting
12/13 July 2006
Joint Minutes

1. The High Level meeting between representatives of the Andean Community and of the European Commission was held on 12/13 July in Brussels. The meeting was chaired, for the European Commission, by Mr. Hervé Jouanjean, Deputy Director General, Directorate General for External Relations, and by Mr. Karl Falkenberg, Deputy Director General, Directorate General for Trade.

The Andean Community’s Delegation was chaired by Ms. María Luisa Ramos, Vice Minister for Economic Relations and Foreign Trade of Bolivia and President of the Bolivian Delegation, acting as representative of the pro-tempore presidency of the CAN. The other Andean countries’ delegations were presided by:

· Colombia, Mr. Eduardo Muñoz, Vice Minister for Foreign Trade

· Ecuador, Mr. Fabián Andrade, Undersecretary for Foreign Trade

· Peru, Mr. Harold Forsyth, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs

The CAN General Secretariat was represented by the CAN General Secretary, Mr. Allan Wagner.

2. Both sides agreed on the need to ratify speedily the December 2003 EU-CAN Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement so as to start implementing it as soon as possible. There was also agreement on the importance for a future Association Agreement to be comprehensive, including political, cooperation and trade pillars.

3. Both sides highlighted the importance of cooperation as an instrument to facilitate negotiations and prepare the ground for a future Association Agreement.

4. The High Level meeting took place after the final meeting of the Ad Hoc Joint Working Group (10/11 July 2006) which was in charge of carrying out the joint assessment on regional economic integration in the Andean Community following the mandate given by the EU-CAN Joint Committee of January 2005 in accordance with the conclusions of the EU-CAN Summit of Guadalajara, May 2004.

5. The two sides received the final joint report of the Ad Hoc Joint Working Group. They expressed satisfaction for the useful work carried out during the joint assessment phase providing for a clear view of the current state of the Andean economic integration process, including its achievements, present limitations and future perspectives.

6. The representatives of the Commission took note of the firm intention of the Andean Community to undertake, in the course of 2006, initiatives in respect of tariffs (the definition of a common starting point for all products originating in the EU), in respect of the simplification and harmonization of customs regimes, related to the implementation of existing decisions in the area of services, and related to forthcoming measures in the area of cross border road transport in order to facilitate intra-regional trade. These initiatives will contribute to deepening regional integration in the Andean Community as well as allow the future Association Agreement between both regions to be mutually beneficial.

7. The representatives of the Commission took further note of the general guidelines presented by the Andean Community in respect of the future bases of negotiations as well as the Bolivian request for flexibility in the future negotiations considering the different levels of development between the CAN countries.

8. In view of these positive results and clarifications achieved before the 20th of July 2006 in the framework of the Vienna Summit Declaration, the representatives of the European Commission and of the Andean Community will initiate the necessary internal consultations and undertake the necessary steps allowing for the launch of negotiations for an Association Agreement between the EU and the Andean Community.

 

For the European Commission 

Mr. Hervé Jouanjean
Deputy Director General Directorate General for External Relations

  

Mr. Karl Falkenberg
Deputy Director General Directorate General for Trade

For the Andean Community
Ms. María Luisa RAMOS
Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Foreign Trade