Lima, May 31, 2005.- Andean Community Secretary General, Allan Wagner, today proposed giving new and decisive force to the mechanism for the Specialized Dialogue on Drugs between the CAN and the European Union within the framework of the biregional strategic alliance.

The relaunching should reflect, expressly and unequivocally, the political will of the parties to fight illegal drugs by adopting and implementing an action program that contains concrete intersector and multidisciplinary initiatives, he stated.

Wagner reported that the Andean Foreign Ministers had proposed, at the CAN-EU Ministerial Meeting last week in Luxemburg, holding a Ministerial-level meeting on the antidrug efforts between the two blocs within the next few months or during the Ninth Meeting of the Specialized High-level Dialogue in 2006. Its purposes would be to evaluate the progress made to date and lay the groundwork for a new action program to boost our cooperation in fighting this scourge, while at the same time it contributes to the development and well being of the inhabitants of the areas affected by drug trafficking.

He pointed out that a very positive signal was received at the Luxemburg Meeting, which “reaffirmed the principle of shared responsibility as the cornerstone of the antidrug effort” and underscored “the importance of increasing cooperation and reinforcing efforts to comprehensively address all of the aspects of illegal drug supply and demand, including questions of political and social stability, security and sustainable development."

Wagner made these proposals at the opening of the VIII Meeting of the Specialized High-Level Dialogue on Drugs between the Andean Community and the European Union, at which other speakers were the Executive President of the National Commission for Drug-Free Living and Development (Devida), Nils Ericsson; the representative of the EU Presidency, the Ambassador of Luxemburg in Brussels, Jean Mischo, and Ambassador Oscar Maúrtua, Vice-Minister, Secretary General and Acting Chargé d’Affaires of the Foreign Ministry of Peru.

Nils Ericsson emphasized the need for new formulas and initiatives in order for the antidrug effort to produce encouraging results. He contended that it is impossible to fight drug trafficking with any hope of success with the few economic resources available to the region’s governments.

The Executive President of Devida felt that Latin America and the Caribbean should meet with the EU to work out formulas for channeling the larger amounts of funds urgently needed by the countries to support their antidrug and antipoverty efforts. He was of the opinion that one of these formulas could be to institutionalize and put into wider use the debt swaps already being accepted by some countries in the European Community, thereby ensuring a much larger flow of funds.

He went on to add that it is also "necessary to call upon private enterprise to become involved in activities in the zones where the raw material is produced and therefore it is essential for States to guarantee a favorable climate for the investment of private capital.” After pointing out that “poverty is the ideal breeding ground for the production of the raw material used in illegal drugs", he stressed that "integral and sustainable development offers the only possible solution in the medium and long terms.”

Ambassador Jean Mischo stated that Europe appreciates the efforts being made by the Andean Community to stamp out this scourge and is willing to discuss the matter and exchange experiences in order to develop the cooperation agreed to by the Ministers of both parties in Luxemburg.

Ambassador Maúrtua, for his part, affirmed that illegal drugs claim victims without distinction and that the problem is just as serious in Europe as in the Andean countries. He went on to warn that “the joint efforts that have been made based on shared responsibility make it clear today that a comprehensive, multilateral approach is needed to the problem that will guarantee greater cooperation and redoubled efforts in the measure necessary to have an effective impact on reducing illegal drug supply and demand.”

In officially opening the Meeting, he underscored Peru’s full adherence to the biregional mechanisms and forums in this sphere and its conviction that alternative development, which makes political and social stability, security and sustainable development viable, is one of the most appropriate instruments to fight illegal drugs.