EU/Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama agreement: political dialogue and cooperation agreement, with the exception of Article 49(3) thereof

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the report by José Ignacio SALAFRANCA SÁNCHEZ-NEYRA (EPP, ES) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion on behalf of the European Union of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Members States, of the one part, and the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, of the other part, with the exception of Article 49(3) thereof.

The committee recommended the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement. The text aims to:

• consolidate the political dialogue and economic cooperation process built up between the Parties under the San Jose Dialogue initiated in 1984 and renewed in Florence in 1996 and in Madrid in 2002;
• strengthen the programme of cooperation governed by the Framework Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republics concerned;
• promote sustainable development in both regions through a development partnership involving all relevant stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, in line with the principles set out in the Monterrey Consensus and the Johannesburg Declaration, and its Plan for Implementation;
• establish cooperation on migration issues and prepare the way for new initiatives for pursuing common goals and establishing common ground in areas such as regional integration, poverty reduction and social cohesion, sustainable development, regional security and stability, conflict prevention and resolution, human rights, democracy, good governance, migration, and the fight against corruption, illegal immigrants, counterterrorism, drugs, and small arms and light weapons.