Speech Lamy over mogelijke associatie EU met Mercosur-landen (en)

Es un honor para mí participar en esta cumbre del Mercosur. Especialmente siendo esta la primera vez que un representante de la Unión Europea es invitado a este evento regional.

Tradicionalmente estas cumbres han sido cruciales en el proceso de consolidación del Mercosur y, en particular en el último año, sus agendas han sido extremadamente ambiciosas. Estoy convencido que esta será fiel a la tradición. Este es el mensaje que el Presidente Prodi me ha pedido que les transmita.

Since the very beginning of the 1990s, the European Union has always stood alongside Mercosur. We have supported the on-going regional integration process on a political level as well as through our bi-regional cooperation. My presence with you today not only is a further sign of the strength of our relationship. It reflects our conviction that this relationship can be deepened. It is a testimony of my personal strong involvement in this endeavour.

We welcome recent significant achievements in completing the Mercosur internal market and at giving Mercosur stronger institutions. This is the case with the decision to complete the Mercosur Customs Union by 2006 and to strengthen its dispute settlement mechanism. Most significantly, let me take the opportunity to congratulate President Duhalde, who has just been appointed as President of the newly established Committee of Permanent Representatives. I trust that this Committee will contribute to further the integration process through its initiatives.

Let me also take this opportunity to highlight one key challenge ahead: your ambitious political decisions will have to be matched by the necessary steps at technical level. Passing from words to action is a complex process. It requires compromises between countries. It sometimes crosses unchartered territories. It also creates a lot of internal debate. The temptation of indulging to exceptions, ambiguous commitments and "half pregnancies", as we say in Europe, is always there. Our experience is that it must be resisted, because this is the only way economic actors, citizens and observers will identify the project as concrete, real and lasting. This is the only way business, whether local or from third countries, will invest in the future.

At this stage, I am not going to preach "euro-morphism". I know too well that specific climates need specific political and institutional architecture. One thing is certain, however: Europe is watching with great sympathy what is going on here, and as I often say, at times felt somewhat lonely in believing in the future of Mercosur. Now we know you are working hard together to make this future happen.

And we still bet on Mercosur. This is the main driver of our current negotiations for an association agreement. This agreement is not only a free trade agreement as many think. It goes well beyond many of the agreements the EU is currently negotiating because it aims at creating a real political partnership between the EU and Mercosur. Indeed, we are looking for a full association between the two regions.

The agreement will encompass a political dialogue and a cooperation pillar, which are of utmost importance. The negotiations on the political dialogue, which are well advanced, should enable us to strengthen and deepen our political relationship. This is essential in an international context marked by increasing instability. We need, wherever possible, to assert common convictions and positions. We share values. We should give them more weight on the international scene.

On the cooperation side, negotiations have also made progress. Cooperation should be seen as the operational arm, translating political and economic objectives into action. Indeed, an important focus of our cooperation is the support to Mercosur integration.

For the period 2000-2006, a € 48 million financial envelope should allow the European Union to actively contribute to the Mercosur integration process by strengthening its institutions and consolidating Mercosur in areas which will be decisive for the good functioning of our economic relations. This concerns for example statistics and customs, harmonisation of technical standards, sanitary and phytosanitary rules, macro-economic coordination or science and technology cooperation. My colleague Chris Patten has asked me to underline the importance of your support to these projects: their realisation will be key for the rapid and successful implementation of our region-to-region trade agreement.

The trade negotiations are also progressing substantially. On 12 November we adopted an ambitious roadmap, which will pave the way, provided all the conditions are met, for a conclusion of these negotiations by the end of 2004. A new round of discussions finished 10 days ago in Brussels in a constructive spirit.

If we are to succeed in our ambitious endeavour, we need three ingredients: strengthening the 'affectio societatis' between both regions, 'engagement' to implement the work programme agreed and 'creativity' to solve the numerous remaining technical problems. With this in mind, I am convinced we will be able to deliver. There are areas where we both need to work hard in the coming months. One is clearly the completion of the Mercosur customs union and related integrated policies. I understand that your decisions today will directly contribute to this objective. This will be a very important signal for us, Europeans. Another area is the definition of agricultural modalities, which would ensure that market opening at bi-regional and multilateral level are compatible.

I would now like to go beyond the current negotiations and look at future challenges that the EU and Mercosur will have to face together. Both regions, even if at a different level of economic and social development, must cope with the challenge of globalisation. Open markets, financial flows, global information: our societies and economies are all confronted with the sometimes painful adjustments resulting from these processes. And we all know that while globalisation is a driving force for efficiency, if not managed domestically and globally, it also generates and increases inequalities.

In this regard, innovation and cohesion will be key to ensure success.

They must be sustained by improved regulatory frameworks in the EU as in Mercosur to govern the way business can operate in integrated markets. Our trade negotiations aim at this objective, with the support of the EU and Mercosur business communities.

The EU and Mercosur are both striving for a more innovative and competitive economy, by investing in human capital, research and development and new technologies. We must join efforts to co-operate in innovation policies, in particular in the field of information society and research.

The ambitious co-operation framework that we have been putting in place the past few years with Latin America has fostered dialogue with Mercosur on policy, regulatory and standardisation issues. We in the Commission strongly believe in this cooperation and already expect the creation of solid partnerships between our two regions in this field. In 2000 we selected information society as a priority field for our economic co-operation with Latin America. We are convinced that our co-operation will bring major economic benefits to your countries by contributing to the further development of the information and communication technologies which impact the whole economic fabric.

In addition, information and communication technologies can support the main objective of our overall relations to improve social cohesion, notably by contributing to better education, health and public administration. Social cohesion is indeed the second challenge our societies are facing.

There is a large consensus to consider social inequalities as a major obstacle to economic development and political stability in Latin America. Recent events in some Latin American countries tend to confirm this assessment. The EU too will have to tackle new social cohesion aspects brought about by the upcoming enlargement of the EU.

In our view social cohesion should become part of our strategic partnership, together with democracy, human rights and the rule of law, environment, sound macroeconomic fundamentals and multilateral integration. Principles are fine. But we should now work together to turn them into concrete initiatives. The Commission is currently working on a bi-regional EU-Latin America programme of € 30 million aimed at transferring experience and know-how in defining and implementing social policies.

The Mexico Summit next year will give us an opportunity to engage further in the fight against poverty and in favour of social cohesion. We are aware of the efforts of your governments in this area. We fully support them and would like to focus our political discussions and our cooperation on this issue more than we have done in the past. You know the Commission considers that the Mexico Summit should focus on the issue of social cohesion. It is important that Heads of State take concrete decisions in this field. We count on your support to make social cohesion one of the main topics of the Summit.

To conclude at a more general level, the Commission attaches great importance to the success of the EU-Latin America Summit in may next year. An important item for this meeting will be, no doubt, the progress achieved in the negotiations of our bi-regional agreement. This will be a goal post on our way to unite cousins above and across the Atlantic, as today's summit is one more step to reinforce the links between brothers.

Also very significant will be the fact that it will be one of the first occasions for the enlarged EU to meet with third countries. I should say the re-united European family, to prolong my metaphor ! I know that enlargement is sometimes viewed with some anxiety. We are convinced that EU enlargement will be greatly beneficial for Mercosur countries. In the short term, our current trade regime will automatically extend to 10 new countries representing an increased market of 100 million consumers. We will obviously also ensure that no trade is disrupted around the date of enlargement (May 2004). In the medium term, the additional prospects offered by the current trade negotiation are expected to boost bilateral trade between Mercosur and the new member states even further.

Let me close by thanking you once again for your invitation. I realise how immodest I have been to accept it: when we will meet again in Mexico next May, trade negotiators will have to report where they stand on the path to the conclusion of our EU-Mercosur agreement. This is a tough challenge! But with your continued support, my most sincere hope is to be able to bring some good news to Guadalajara.

Thank you very much.