Ecuador, EU to explore trade
Prensa Latina
Ecuador, EU to Explore Trade
Quito, Jan 24 2009 — Ecuador President Rafael Correa approved negotiation of a bilateral agreement with the European Union because of the impossibility to do it in a block through the Community of Andean Nations.
In a letter sent to the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, Correa said that the dialogues with the EC should involve economic cooperation to develop the necessary institutional capacities and facilitate the application of fair and equitative policies.
"This implies a frame of flexibility and respect, with the recognition of the large asymmetries between the EU and the Andean countries," the letter said.
With this proposal, a real trade treaty for development could be structured, said the text sent to Durao Barroso.
The decision was adopted after EU accepted Correa’s proposal as current CAN temporal president to negotiate cooperation between the two blocks.
The commercial dialogues will be bilateral, for an exhaustive agreement, compatible with the regulations of the World Trade Organization, said Correa’s letter to Durao Barroso.
Correa also said that the bilateral dialogue must be oriented with a regional perspective allowing convergence and mutual benefits.
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Fander Falconi will meet EU authorities and express the position of Ecuador to not give up deepening political and cooperation links with the EU, in Brussels, Belgium, next week.
This position was decided after Europe accepted a proposal by Colombia and Peru to negotiate a political-economic association agreement without the participation of Ecuador and Bolivia, the other CAN member countries, which are against some EU objections on intellectual property and patents.