EU rules out FTA talks with Andean Community in near future
Xinhua - 12 May 2006
EU rules out FTA talks with Andean Community in near future
VIENNA, May 11 (Xinhua) — European Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on Thursday ruled out the possibility of holding talks with the Andean Community over a free trade agreement.
"It is up to them to have a common position, so we ruled out bilateral trade talks before Doha meeting," said Waldner after theforeign ministers’ meeting of the EU-Latin America summit.
Last week, Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo said the Andean Community will seek to launch trade talks at the three-day summit talks here, with or without Venezuela and Bolivia.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said earlier on Thursday in Vienna that the European Union (EU) should offer more market access to goods from the Andean Community, but he did not say whether he favored negotiations on a free trade agreement with theEU or not.
The Andean Community, founded in 1969, consists of five member states, that is, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia.
