Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-04-20-Speech-2-214"
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"en.20100420.8.2-214"2
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"Madam President, in recent months, Latin America has increasingly been taking on a more clear and concrete importance in the eyes of the European Union, after years of receiving too little attention from the EU. The European Commission brought out a communication positing both regions of Latin America as global players and partners, and negotiations on association agreements are now well under way. I cannot help but stress the strategic importance of good relations with Latin America. What I particularly have in mind here is the ongoing negotiations for an association agreement with Central America, the latest round of which kicked off yesterday. The objective is to dot the final i’s and to wrap up the negotiations.
Although, in essence, I would welcome an association agreement with Latin America, I cannot stress enough that respect for human rights is of the greatest importance here. This agreement should contribute to the improvement of the human rights situation in Central America and it must be a constant incentive to these countries to respect human rights. This agreement should contribute to the improvement of the human rights situation in Central America and it must be a constant incentive to these countries to respect human rights. We are not just entering a trade agreement here, but also forging a connection with each other through the medium of political dialogues and cooperation.
The association agreement is important for Central America. The region is characterised by a high level of poverty and this agreement must contribute to the economic progress of the people there. During the negotiations, the EU must not therefore shut its eyes to the fact that Europe and Central America are not equal partners in the agreement. The agreement must take sufficient account of the unequal starting points of the two regions and the asymmetry in the agreement is therefore very important. In brief, this must be a balanced agreement and one that does not just bring benefits to Europe and major companies established in Central America. No, above all, it must improve the situation of ordinary citizens and small businesses.
To conclude, we have chosen a region-by-region approach and I would stress that we must bring things to a conclusion in that fashion, so that no single country falls behind its neighbours."@en1
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