Monday, May 19, 2008
Fourth Mexico-European Union
Summit Held in Lima, Peru
Presidency
of the Republic
May 17 – Mexico was represented
by President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa; and Foreign Affairs Secretary, Amb. Patricia Espinosa Cantellano. The European Union
was represented by Prime Minister of Slovenia, Janez Janša, President of the EU Council; President of the European Commission,
José Manuel Durão Barroso; and High Representative of the PESC and General Secretary, Javier Solana.
● Both parties highlighted the institutional maturity and dynamism of long-term
relations between Mexico and the European Union as part of the Economic, Political Agreement and Cooperation Partnership Agreement.
● They acknowledged the importance of their bilateral links in the regional and
International context in jointly promoting shared values, principles and interests, such as the consolidation of democracy,
the rule of law, respect for human rights, commitment to gender equity, sustainable economic development, equal opportunities
and the sustainable preservation of the environment.
● In keeping with the commitment to continue forging a closer, more mature partnership
on the basis of the Global Agreement, expressed in the III Mexico-European Union Summit, the parties expressed their determination
to work jointly to establish a Strategic Partnership.
● Both parties agreed that the intensity of political dialog at all levels reflects the
importance they place on bilateral relations. They highlighted the fact that during the past year, several high-level meetings
have been held, including the Mexican president's visit to the headquarters of European Institutions and some capitals of
EU member states, the meeting between Secretary Patricia Espinosa and Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, a visit to Slovenia
by Secretary Espinosa, the visit to Mexico by High Representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and Secretary
General of the European Union, Javier Solana and Commissioners Peter Mandelson, Janez Potocnik and Vladimir Spidla, and the
recent visit to Mexico by President José Manuel Durão Barroso.
● Regarding the economic aspects of the bilateral relationship, both parties noted
the positive evolution of the trade and investment flows within the Free Trade Agreement between Mexico and the EU (MEUFTA),
and hailed the fact that bilateral trade exceeded $50 billion USD in 2007 and that productive investment flows between the
two countries have also maintained an upward trend.
● The two parties also welcomed the recent implementation of the decision by the
Joint Mexico-European Union, which establishes a framework to negotiate agreements of mutual recognition and noted the agreement
achieved in the texts of the Decisions that will permit the establishment of a Global Mexico-European Union agreement to take
the recent expansion of the European Union into account.
● The leaders repeated their willingness to reactivate and conclude the negotiations
concerning the revision clauses of the MEUFTA for agricultural, service and investment issues as soon as possible.
● The two parties repeated their commitment to continuing the dialogue on social
cohesion policies, as part of the 2007-2013 cooperation program.
● The leaders hailed the results obtained in the Seminar for the First Mexico-European
Union Dialogue on Employment and Social Policies held in Mexico City in April, which stressed the importance of bilateral
exchange in policies focusing on the improvement of social protection, active inclusion and decent work for all.
● The leaders hailed the establishment of the Dialog on Sectoral Policy for the
Environment and Climate Change, the aim of which is to reinforce cooperation and political consultation at international environmental
forums. As a complement to this dialogue, the European Investment Bank (IEB) opened up a line of credit for €50
million euros, to finance projects to offset climate change in Mexico.
● They also agreed to increase bilateral cooperation in human rights issues and
in this respect, highlighted the importance of the Mexico-European Union Human Rights Cooperation Program 2008-2010, which
will be based on the eradication of gender violence, the reform of the Mexican system of justice and the harmonization of
national legislation with International human rights instruments.
● Both parties acknowledged the significant advances that have been made in the
field of scientific and technological cooperation and expressed their interest in expanding this in sectors of mutual interest,
such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technologies, health, energy and the environment. They also underlined
the possibility of engaging in joint research projects financed by the National Council of Science and Technology for the
financial support provided by Mexico (CONACYT) and the European Commission.
● They also hailed the recent presentation of the Mexico-European Union Cultural
Fund, which marks the start of new stage of cooperation in this sphere and highlighted the importance of promoting academic
cooperation, and student, teacher and researcher mobility through the Erasmus Mundus Program and its window of external cooperation.
The window of external cooperation will support students and institutions from the ten least advanced states in Mexico.
● The leaders stressed the importance of beginning the Sectoral Dialog on Education
and Culture as soon as possible.
● The parties stressed the importance of economic cooperation, particularly through
the Integral Program to Support PYMES and the MEUFTA Facilitation Program.
● Both parties expressed their pleasure at the upcoming III Forum of Dialog between
the Civil Societies of Mexico and the European Union, in the Second semester of 2008.
● Mexico and the European Union hailed the advances registered in Latin America
and the Caribbean regarding the consolidation of democratic institutions.
● As for the current situation in Europe, the European Union provided important
information on the current ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the outlook for the process of European integration. Mexico
stated that it is closely following these processes due to their positive implications for the strengthening of the European
Union and the bilateral relationship.
As part of
the new boost being given to the bilateral relationship resulting from steps being taking to establish a Strategic Partnership:
● Mexico and the European Union are willing to collaborate in the quest for a United
Nations reform. Based on the recognition of the fact that peace, security, human rights and development are interconnected
and mutually reinforce each other, the leaders agreed to continue promoting better coordination between the various UN
organizations.
● The two parties also share the desire the continue working to ensure that the
issue of development, the struggle against poverty and hunger occupy a central place on the international agenda and agreed
on the importance of achieving the Millennium Development goals established by the United Nations.
● The European Union expressed its satisfaction over the information provided by
Mexico over the motivation behind the Mexican candidacy to the Security Council, as a non-permanent member for the period
from 2009 to 2010. Mexico reported that the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States endorsed this candidacy on March
31.
● As for cooperation in the multilateral forums, the parties repeated their commitment
to formulating joint initiatives regarding human rights and supporting each other in issues of interest for each party.
● The leaders expressed their satisfaction over the results of the Institutional
construction of the United Nations Human Rights Council and repeated their political will to continue collaborating positively
to contribute to the consolidation of this organization and of its mechanisms, particularly the Mechanism for the Universal
Periodic Examination, in order to reinforce the international human rights system.
● Both parties celebrated the agreement reached during the 62nd Period
of Sessions of the United Nations General Assembly to adopt the resolution on the “Delay in Implementing Capital Punishment"
and underlined the advisability of adopting this every two years.
● They stressed the importance of combating all forms and expressions of terrorism,
while strictly observing international law, international standards of protecting human rights and international humanitarian
law.
● The European Union and Mexico confirmed their commitment to supporting and promoting
the implementation of the Hyogo Action Mechanism 2005-2015 for disaster reduction.
● At the same time, Mexico and the European Union expressed their conviction that
it is the duty of all countries, without exception, to collaborate in order to deal with the effects of climate change, according
to the principle of shared but different responsibilities, according to their respective capacities. The parties repeated
their commitment to achieving an integral, globally agreed on result as part of the Bali Action Plan by 2009 at the latest,
in order to permit the full, effective, sustained implementation of the United Nations Fund Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
through cooperation actions from now until 2012 and thereafter, focusing on a shared vision and the four pillars of the Bali
Action Plan: mitigation, adaptation, technology and financing and based on the scientific evidence established by the 4th
Evaluation Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
● Mexico and the European Union agreed that migration must be analyzed using a
broad, balanced approach. Its causes and effects must be considered, in order to find integral answers, based on the principle
of shared responsibility by countries of origin, transit and destination, with full respect for the human rights of all migrants.
The parties stressed the importance of intensifying the struggle against the illicit trafficking of migrants and people smuggling,
as well as constructive cooperation for dealing with the issues of regular and irregular migration, according to the international
legal framework and, when appropriate, the national laws of both parties, as well as the link between migration and development.
● Mexico and the European Union repeated their commitment to promoting gender equity
and protecting the rights of children and indigenous people at the national and international level.
● They repeated their commitment to promoting and protecting the human rights of
disabled persons throughout the world and in this context, expressed their satisfaction over the recent implementation of
the Convention on the Rights of Disabled Persons.
● Cooperation between Mexico and the European Union to combat the problem of illicit
drugs and related crimes is based on the principle of shared responsibility, on the basis of international law and will support
the development of policies and programs to deal with the problem in an integral, balanced fashion.
● Mexico and the European Union declared that the illegal trafficking of small,
light arms dealing and their munitions poses a serious threat to international peace and security. As a means of controlling
this illicit trafficking, Mexico and the European Union pledged to comply with the recommendations of the United Nations Action
Program to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trafficking of small, light arms in every respect and to promote
its implementation. They also pledged to play an active role during the Third Biennial Meeting of the Action Program, to be
held in New York from July 14 to 18 2008.
Lastly, the parties decided to
hold the next political dialogue meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government on a mutually convenient
date.
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Press Release: Presidency of the Republic, May 17,
2008, Lima, Peru
Translation Presidency of the Republic
