Remarks by President Donald Tusk at the press conference of the EU-Mexico summit

President Peña Nieto - Enrique - you are very welcome to Brussels for the 7th EU-Mexico Summit, the first since 2012. It was also a first for both of us and, I hope you'll agree, an occasion on which we were able to strengthen the EU-Mexico relationship.

Mexico matters for the European Union. Mexico is our strategic partner. We want to co-operate on important issues such as climate change, trade and investment, human rights and the post-2015 development agenda. We have common values, such as our shared commitment to the rule of law, global security and to the security of our own citizens. Beyond views and values, trade with the world's 11th largest economy - that's in-between France and Italy - is hugely important to Europe.

President Peña Nieto briefed us on the far-reaching ambitious economic reforms launched since late 2012 and Mexico's renewed conviction to take on more responsibility in foreign affairs. We hope that Mexico´s resumed participation in UN peacekeeping missions will also facilitate Mexican support of EU crisis management operations.

We also welcomed these economic reforms and the opportunities they create for increased EU-Mexico cooperation, not least for European business.

We discussed the recent developments in the EU's and Mexico´s respective neighbourhoods, including the situation in Ukraine. Mexico and the European Union are united in our commitment to uphold the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Mexico's support for our neighbour is much appreciated.

We had an useful exchange of views on migration and how to achieve partnership between receiving countries and countries of transit and origin.

Climate change is also a shared challenge. We are working in partnership with Mexico to achieve an ambitious outcome at the Paris Summit in December, especially after the positive outcome at the G7 earlier this week.

Finally, and importantly, we want to see our relationship reach its full strategic potential. We agreed today to work towards launching early negotiations to modernise and update the EU-Mexico Global Agreement, which entered into force 15 years ago. This modernised agreement will be a stronger foundation for taking our partnership forward because it will be far more ambitious and comprehensive. Our vision for this relationship is for more political co-operation and more trade.