Patten meets Colombian Vice-President Francisco Santos Calderón

External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten today met Francisco Santos Calderón, Vice-President of the Republic of Colombia and James LeMoyne, UN Secretary General Special Advisor on Colombia. During the meetings, they reviewed the situation in Colombia and relations between the EU and the Andean Community of Nations (CAN).

The meetings came at a crucial time, with relations between the EU and the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) about to take a major step forward with the signature of a new Political Dialogue and Co-operation Agreement on 15 December in Rome. Commissioner Patten and Mr. Santos Calderón also discussed bilateral co-operation issues in Colombia and exchanged views on how best to follow up the London Declaration of 10 July on international support for Colombia, including its recommendations on Human Rights.

Commissioner Patten stressed the commitment of the EU to Colombia, as illustrated by the magnitude of its assistance to that country. From 2000 to 2003, the overall European Commission external assistance and humanitarian aid towards Colombia amounts to over € 136 million. The Commission is also about to launch a new 'Peace Laboratory' programme for Colombia worth € 33 million. In this context, Commissioner Patten underlined the need to implement promptly the 24 UN recommendations on Human Rights to the government and reiterated the importance the EU attaches to the role of civil society and Non Governmental Organisations in bringing about a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Colombia. The meeting also touched upon Commissioner Patten's upcoming visit to Colombia in January.

Earlier in the day, Commissioner Patten had met James LeMoyne, UN Secretary General Special Advisor on Colombia, together with Michael Frühling, Head of the Bogotá Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. They reviewed the situation in Colombia and in the wider Andean region, notably as regards human rights. They discussed the role of the international community and the EU in helping achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict. Both sides concurred on the importance of following up the London Declaration of 10 July, which constitutes the roadmap for international support for Colombia, and in particular the prompt implementation of the UN Human Rights recommendations.

They stressed the close co-operation between the EU and the UN on Colombia, as evidenced by the regular high-level contacts, permanent co-ordination at field level, and EU financial assistance to the office of Mr. LeMoyne and UN agencies such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR), the High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), and the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).


For further information on EU-Colombia relations:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/colombia/intro/index.htm

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