Upcoming Events

International | EU

no events match your query!

New Events

International

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire

offsite link In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire

offsite link UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović

offsite link US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire

offsite link Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović

Anti-Empire >>

The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.  We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below). 

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en

offsite link Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en

offsite link Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en

offsite link Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en

Voltaire Network >>

EU decides to cancel the fourth round of negotiations of the EU-CAN Association Agreement!

category international | eu | press release author Wednesday July 02, 2008 10:34author by José Antonio Gutiérrez - Latin American Solidarity Centreauthor email research at lasc dot ieauthor address 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2author phone 01-6760435 Report this post to the editors

Since September 2007, the CAN, integrated by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the EU, have been negotiating an Association Agreement, consisting in three pillars: Cooperation, Political Dialogue and Trade.

The EU, in a surprising move, has decided to cancel the Fourth Round of negotiations of the EU-CAN Association Agreement that was going to take place from July 7th to 11th in Brussels. This decision was communicated to the Ecuadorian government which is holding the interim presidency of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). The reason given to cancel the Round was the deep disagreements existing in the CAN on issues to be negotiated as part of the Trade Pillar, such as Intellectual Property, Trade and Sustainable Development.

According to the Ecuadorian Minister of Economy, Pedro Páez, this will give the Andean block more time to internally discuss these and other sensitive issues, such as Migration or Public Procurement. According to his own words, “it is better to clarify first certain things, instead of rushing into new negotiations with uncertainties”.

It is still not clear when the Fourth Round of negotiations will be held, but according to Páez, it could be at least in a couple of months.

Since September 2007, the CAN, integrated by Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and the EU, have been negotiating an Association Agreement, consisting in three pillars: Cooperation, Political Dialogue and Trade.

The ongoing negotiations between the EU and CAN have been plagued with problems, mainly, for the strong opposition presented by Andean civil society organisations and the governments of Bolivia and Ecuador to the imposition of a Neoliberal agenda in the Trade discussion. Although the EU has insisted publicly that the Association Agreement is not a Free Trade Agreement, the EU Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, threatened to exclude Bolivia from the negotiations if they were not to accept Free Trade in the terms proposed by the EU, during the Lima Summit of Latin American, Caribbean and European Heads of State in May.

According to the spokesperson of the Ecuadorian civil society umbrella group, Ecuador Decide, Paulina Muñoz, “We have rejected the EU-CAN Association Agreement, for it is exactly the same to the Free Trade Agreement with the US we have already rejected. The Cooperation and Political Dialogue pillars are nothing but a cosmetic façade for a Trade pillar which pretends to control our markets. We are worried that through these agreements a new colonisation of our people is started”. Her views are shared by numerous civil society organisations in the four Andean countries.

Negotiations have faced further difficulties because of the turbulent political situation in the CAN countries and conflict within this block, the new EU immigration policy -the “Return Directive”- that has soured the relationship’s between Latin American countries and the EU and the attempts to do separate, bilateral negotiations between the EU and Colombia/Peru, excluding Bolivia and Ecuador. This plunged the CAN into a deep crisis that could compromise the future of the block.

Related Link: http://www.lasc.ie
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy