Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, and provisional application of the Protocol of Accession to the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Ecuador

Following the withdrawal of Bolivia from the negotiation of an Association Agreement between the EU and the Andean Community, on 19 January 2009 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate a trade agreement with those Andean Community countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) which shared our general objective of a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and WTO-compatible agreement. Subsequently, negotiations for a multiparty trade agreement were launched in January 2009 between the EU and Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Bolivia chose not to participate in the process. After 4 rounds, Ecuador suspended its participation in the talks and negotiations continued with Peru and Colombia only.

On 26 June 2012 the EU signed a Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru. The Trade Agreement has been provisionally applied since 1 March 2013 for Peru and 1 August 2013 for Colombia. Following the request by Ecuador to restart negotiations with the Union to become a Party to the Trade Agreement, negotiations were conducted between the Union and Ecuador in 2014. The negotiations for the Protocol of Accession by Ecuador to the Trade Agreement were concluded in July 2014.

The accession of Ecuador to the existing Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru, which is a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and WTO-compatible agreement, reinforces the legal framework of the EU trade relations with this country and facilitates reciprocal trade and investment. It also incorporates Ecuador to the regime of joint rules and institutions established by the Trade Agreement. Moreover, accession to the Trade Agreement will provide an anchor for Ecuador's economic reforms and efforts to integrate the global economy, increase welfare and consolidate its growth with a view to improving the living conditions of its citizens.

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)173: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:173:FIN

ESO: Background information: EU-Latin America trade relations: Overview and figures http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-latin-america-trade-relations-overview-and-figures/

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)174: Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Protocol of Accession to the Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Colombia and Peru, of the other part, to take account of the accession of Ecuador http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2016:174:FIN

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