EU/Andean Community: negotiating guidelines for an association agreement
Mr Luis Yañez-Barnuevo García (PES, Spain) submitted, on behalf of the socialist group and pursuant to Rule 114(1) of the Rules of Procedure, a proposal for a recommendation to the Council on the negotiating guidelines for an association agreement between the European Union and its Member States on the one part, and the Andean Community and its member countries on the other.
He sets out the following recommendations in his proposal:
§ the negotiating mandate should explicitly state the legal basis on which the new Association Agreement is to be negotiated, namely Article 310 of the Treaty establishing the European Union, in conjunction with the first sentence of the first paragraph of Article 300(2) and the second paragraph of Article 300(3);
§ the negotiating guidelines should clearly state support for the Andean partners in their efforts to overcome the crisis caused by Venezuela’s withdrawal, prioritising an Agreement between regional blocks which will not, however, exclude such differentiated treatment as may be required in terms of the development of the integration process within the Andean Community;
§ the guidelines should identify the central issues on which the agenda and the political dialogue will focus, including the updating of objectives and focuses on issues like democratic governability, peace-keeping and security, and conflict management; the guidelines should also include fresh objectives such as reducing poverty, supporting social cohesion, migration and human exchanges, and open the way to fresh action on issues like the adoption of common positions in international fora and the United Nations, respect for human rights, etc;
§ the negotiating mandate should, in particular, include EU-ANC agreement on shared responsibility for fighting drug trafficking, its social and economic implications when implementing the measures proposed, and, in particular, those concerning market access for alternative crops, and the specific control mechanisms designed to contain and gradually reduce the related crimes of money laundering and arms trafficking;
§ the negotiating guidelines should provide for progressive access to European markets for Andean products under competitive conditions, avoiding any worsening of existing imbalances as a result of the future Agreement; the guidelines should therefore provide for special, differentiated and flexible treatment, within deadlines to be agreed, in terms of commitments given within the framework of regional integration and improved competitiveness achieved by the Andean countries, on the basis of support measures on the part of the Union and by technology transfer, the inclusion of national requirements in the rules on origin, and the establishment of cooperation and technical assistance programmes; all of which should go hand in hand with a legal environment which guarantees safety for investment and the parties’ economic and trade relations;
§ as a demonstration of tangible, decisive support for the Andean regional integration process, in particular, there should be no subordinating conditions of any kind, whether explicit or tacit, making the conclusion of the future EU-ANC Agreement subject to the prior completion of the WTO round negotiations, without prejudice to the Agreement’s including, in due time, those results of the Doha working programme which are compatible with the final goal of the EU-ANC Association;
§ the new Agreement’s provisions on development cooperation should take account of the specific features of the Andean region, and be based on the priority need for training of human capital in order to overcome poverty in the region; for this reason, particular attention needs to be paid to education, research, science and technology and culture;
§ the Commission should provide Parliament with exhaustive information, on a confidential basis if necessary, as to its recommendations concerning the negotiating mandate.