Draft EU-Mexico Cooperation Agreement
The European Commission and the Mexican government have negotiated an Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement. The Commission has recently published a proposal for a Council Decision concerning its conclusion for the Community side. The draft Agreement has the objective of strengthening existing relations between the Parties, on the basis of reciprocity and mutual interest. It will institutionalize the political dialogue and strengthen commercial and economic relations through the liberalization of trade in conformity with the rules of the WTO. In addition, it will broaden cooperation in a range of areas, including: industry, investment and financial services, the Information Society, SMEs, mining, customs, agriculture, energy, transport, tourism, combating drug trafficking, training and education, culture, social affairs, human rights and health. The areas covered by the Agreement may be extended or supplemented by mutual consent of the Parties. In the field of scientific and technological cooperation, activities will aim to encourage exchanges of information and know-how on science and technology; to promote enduring relations between the scientific communities of the two parties; and to promote human resources training. Coooperation will take the form of joint research projects and exchanges, meetings and training of scientists, providing for the maximum dissemination of the results of research. A sectoral Agreement covering the fields of science and technology cooperation, similar to those concluded by the EU with other countries, may be concluded at a later date, if deemed appropriate by both Parties. The implementation of the Agreement will be supervised by a Joint Council, at Ministerial level, and by a Joint Committee, at official level. These will consist of representatives of the Council and the Member States along with the European Commission on the one hand, and the government of Mexico on the other. To allow cooperation in the trade and trade-related matters covered by the Agreement to commence as early as possible, an Interim Agreement has also been negotiated by the Commission and the Mexican government. Once concluded this will apply until the full Agreement enters into force. Both Agreements need to be approved by the European Parliament before the Council formally concludes them on behalf of the Community. This procedure can be expected to take several months.
Kraje
Mexico