At the EU-Latin America and Caribbean summit in 2004, the EU and the Central American region agreed to negotiate a new Association Agreement consisting of three pillars: political dialogue, cooperation and trade. The new agreement would aim to reinforce the political and economic stability of the region by fostering sustainable development and deepening the process of regional integration, as had been the case with the existing Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement. Such objectives would be important for attracting investment to the region and helping local businesses develop strength through regional markets to compete internationally.
Negotiations were launched in 2007 and were successfully concluded by the 2010 Madrid EU – LAC Summit in May.
The agreement has secured commitments in services which are significant covering all modes and cater to the EU’s interests in a number of sectors including telecommunications, environmental, financial and also maritime transport services.
Public procurement markets have been opened in varying degrees with Panama and Costa Rica in particular opening their markets more significantly than the other Central American countries covered in the agreement. The agreement also covers common rules relating to competition and transparency in order to assist in the promotion of a level playing field. Furthering this objective a dispute settlement mechanism is included in the agreement to maintain a fair application of such rules.
The text of the Association Agreement was initialled in Brussels on 22 March 2011 and the process now requires that the agreement be translated, signed by the Council, and then consented to by the European Parliament. It is possible that this could be completed by the second quarter of 2012 where it would then come into provisional application.
Important excerpts from the text of the agreement:
Text Part I: General and institutional provisions
Text Part V: General and final provisions
Annex X: Establishment commitments
Annex XI: Cross-Border supply of services commitments
Annex XII: Reservations of Key Personnel and Graduate Trainees for the EU
Annex XIII: Key Personnel and Graduate Trainee commitments for Central America
Annex XIV: Business Service Sellers commitments for Central America
Annex XVI: Government Procurement
The full agreement can be found: here
For more information:
