Lima, Oct. 15, 2003. The Andean Community and the European Union today successfully concluded in Quito the negotiation of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the two regions, which is slated to be signed in Italy this coming December.

In highlighting the importance of this agreement for strengthening and deepening biregional relations, Andean Community Secretary General Guillermo Fernández de Soto pointed out that not only does it spur action in priority areas of common interest, but it also “constitutes the basis for the forthcoming bloc-by-bloc negotiation of an Association Agreement that will encompass a Free Trade Agreement.”

Activities will be carried out to enhance the competitiveness of the Andean countries by developing their capacities, making it possible for them to participate more fully in the European and world economies.

Fernández de Soto stressed that “the Association Agreement should result in a long-term strategic alliance that will not only guarantee reciprocal access by the products of the two blocs to their associates’ markets, but also give a greater measure of legal stability and certainty to the decision-making process of the political, economic and social actors.” He went on to add that “recent trade developments have made the adoption of the agreement imperative.”

The Agreement, born of the negotiations which concluded today, constitutes a significant qualitative step forward in biregional relations, providing as it does for an organized dialogue on a variety of fronts and extending cooperation into new spheres of great importance to the Andean subregion, such as peace and security, political and social stability, democratic governance and migratory flows.