Bogotá, Sept. 18, 07. The Andean spokesman for the Group on Cooperation, Pablo Solón, declared today that the phrase that best summarizes this First Round of Negotiations of an Association Agreement is that the Andean Community and the European Union started off by barely scratching the surface.

He explained that, in effect, this will probably be the hallmark of this first round and that it will be in the second only that our teams will really start playing their game. 

Pablo Solón, who also heads Bolivia’s negotiating group, maintained that progress was good on this first day of negotiations on the general matters to be decided with regard to the political dialogue, cooperation and trade pillars. 

He reported that an initial exchange of views on the part of both the Andean Community and the European Union during the first hours revealed that they have many topics in common.  In the cases where there are differences in vision, it was agreed to take the necessary time to find a solution. 

Insofar as the progress of the Group on Political Dialogue is concerned, he explained that it was agreed that a general part will deal with objectives and that the necessary mechanisms will be available in order to move ahead with the dialogue.  Specific clauses will also be defined on certain topics of interest.   

There is a great deal of agreement on the objectives of and mechanisms for strengthening this political dialogue.  However, no particular clause has yet been considered or drafted, although the general exchanges of viewpoints revealed considerable areas of agreement, he pointed out.   

In the case of the Group on Cooperation, Solón reported that proposals had been put forward and views exchanged on the objectives and the list of subjects to be covered by the Association Agreement and that a working methodology was adopted.    

He emphasized that the Andean Community has made an unmistakable proposal to the European Union with regard to this pillar, to the effect that the Association Agreement should involve a qualitative improvement in its cooperation.  Mechanisms for strengthening cooperation were proposed within this framework. 

As for the Group on Trade, he reported a wide exchange of ideas about objectives, based on a proposal put forward by the Andean Community, whose reception by the European Union was positive in general.     

He went on to add that today some of the working committees on the trade pillar have started to enter into greater detail, which is the most complex part of the negotiations.