EU-Andean Community - 7th meeting of the Joint Committee

The 7th meeting of the EU-Andean Community (Comunidad Andina de Naciones, CAN) Joint Committee will take place in Quito on 28 April. The meeting will bring together senior representatives of the 5 CAN member countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela), the European Commission and the EU Council of Ministers.

The meeting will provide the first opportunity to review the bi-regional relationship following the signature of the new Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement in Rome in December 2003.

Figuring prominently among the issues on the agenda is the preparation of the forthcoming Guadalajara Summit of the EU, Latin American and Caribbean countries on 28 May and, in this context, an exchange of views about the future perspectives of EU-CAN relations.

The meeting will also provide the occasion for a joint examination of bilateral trade relations and discuss ongoing and future cooperation projects in support of Andean economic integration and the construction of an Andean Peace zone. The meeting will be co-chaired by Ambassador José Piedrahita Flores representing the Ecuatorian pro-tempore Secretariat of the CAN and Mr. Hervé Jouanjean, Deputy Director General for External Relations of the Commission.

In addition to its bilateral cooperation programmes with each Andean country, the Commission has allocated €29 million to its 2002-2006 bi-regional cooperation programme with the CAN.

In 2004, two new projects are under preparation, in support of the realisation of the Andean internal market and to strengthen public support for the Andean integration process, the oldest on the Latin American subcontinent.

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