EU en Colombia bespreken mijnbouw, duurzame ontwikkeling en bedrijfsbeleid (en)

EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 21 November 2012 A

JOINT STATEMT Second meeting of the EU-Colombia Bilateral Consultation

Mechanism

• 1. 

  On 21 November 2012, the second meeting of the EU-Colombia Bilateral Consultation Mechanism was held at the European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium
• 2. 

  The Republic of Colombia was represented by Ms Monica Lanzetta, Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Carlos de Hart, Deputy Minister for Enterprise Development, Ms Maria Constanza Garcia, Chairwoman of the National Agency of Mining and representatives of the Embassy of Colombia. Mr Christian Leffler, Managing Director for the Americas at the External Action Service of the European Union chaired the meeting which was also attended by Mr Daniel Calleja, Director General, DG Enterprise, and several officials from the European External Action Service and the European Commission
• 3. 

  The dialogue focused on two main topics: mining and sustainable development, and enterprise policy and competitiveness. It also covered a range of other issues of mutual interest, such as recent political and economic developments in the EU and in Colombia, the preparations for the EU-CELAC Summit, and regional integration and other developments in Latin America
• 4. 

  Regarding mining and sustainable development, the dialogue allowed the parties an exchange of views regarding activities to develop the extractive industries, taking into account environmental, health and safety standards, an effective promotion of social corporate responsibility in this area, as well as transparency in supply chains
• 5. 

  In this sense, concrete initiatives and policies were identified in order to implement projects and exchange best practices on the EU Mining Waste Directive, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the ISO 26000 standards on Social Responsibility and the CAN Decision on Andean Policy on Illegal Mining, among others
• 6. 

  On the other topic, the parties followed up on the implementation of the letters of intent signed the past May 2012 by Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani i during his visit to Colombia; in this respect, the parties agreed to develop concrete actions to strengthen mutual cooperation and to achieve a work programme to promote innovation, enhance entrepreneurial culture, facilitate conditions for tourists, foster tourism, boost raw materials industries and promote SMEs, with a view to rendering economies on both sides more competitive, more productive and more innovative. Both parties will exchange contact point details responsible on each areas in order to enhance technical dialogue
• 7. 

  The parties welcomed the impending provisional application of the Trade Agreement between the EU, and Colombia and Peru, which will lead to an upgrading of the relationship and a deepening of economic and trade relations
• 8. 

  Both sides reiterated their satisfaction with the progress achieved in bilateral relations and expressed their commitment to enhance bilateral relations at all levels in a spirit of mutual respect. They welcomed the results of the meeting and expressed their expectation that the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism would prove a valuable forum for discussing other topics of common interest, including matters related to the Trade Agreement, with the intent to broaden to as many fields as possible. The Dialogue allowed a profound exchange on issues of mutual interest, reaffirmed the close relations between the EU and Colombia and contributed to a greater understanding of the respective interests and positions

They agreed that the next meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism would be held in Bogota in 2013