NOORDWIJK MINISTERIAL MEETING

PRESS RELEASE

1. The second ministerial meeting between the States party to MERCOSUR and the European Union took place in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, on 7 April 1997, in the framework of the Political Dialogue established by the Inter-regional Framework Agreement, signed on 15 December 1995.

2. On this occasion Ministers discussed questions of mutual interest to both regions and exchanged views on the latest developments in each region.

3. Following their discussions, Ministers agreed:

- To reaffirm that full respect of human rights, democratic principles and democratic institutions was an essential condition for their respective integration processes. That value, which was shared by the European Union and Mercosur, constituted a basis for their mutual cooperation and was included in the agreements which both parties concluded with third countries. In this connection, they welcomed the Mercosur Presidential Declaration on Democratic Commitment, signed in San Luis, Argentina, on 25 June 1996 and espoused by the Presidents of Bolivia and Chile.

- To reiterate the importance of the regional integration process as an instrument of economic and social development with a view to ensuring that its benefits were fully shared by society.

- To highlight the importance of open regionalism which underpinned the integration process in both regions. They stressed that this concept could contribute to the expansion of world trade, and they undertook to defend it within the relevant international bodies.

- To stress that the process of regional integration was in line with the multilateral system of trade, and in accordance with the relevant rules of WTO, and to recall that this was also the case for the Inter-regional Framework Cooperation Agreement between Mercosur and the EU.

- That the Political Dialogue established between both Parties made closer consultation on bi­regional and multilateral questions possible, and should lead to more coordinated positions in those international fora deemed appropriate by both Parties. In that context, Ministers decided to initiate consultations at the level of their representatives to the United Nations with a view to coordinate positions at the next General Assembly, and at the United Nations Assembly Special Session on the Environment to be held in New York in June 1997.

- That the United Nations should continue to play a key role in the maintenance of international peace and security. The importance shown of peace keeping operations since the end of the cold war was confirmation that the future of the United Nations' collective security system depended on Member States' commitment to strengthening the system. They stressed the common concern and the efforts shown by the countries of the European Union and of Mercosur to contribute to peacekeeping operations within the United Nations framework.

- To note with interest the progress made in both regions since the first Political Dialogue meeting in Luxembourg on 10 June 1996. They welcomed the progress made by Mercosur which had enabled it to continue to consolidate regional integration, as well as the association with Chile and Bolivia.

4. Ministers agreed to press on with efforts to attain the objective set in the Inter-regional Framework Cooperation Agreement, and reiterated the will of both Parties to strengthen political and economic cooperation.

They welcomed the results of the first meetings of the Joint Committee and of the Subcommittee on Trade, and the progress made by the working parties towards achieving the objectives set for this stage of the preparations for the establishment of an Inter-regional Association.

5. They underscored the importance of the fight against drugs and related crimes and, in that connection, undertook to study the possibility of signing the agreements on the control of chemical precursors.

6. They agreed to hold the IIIrd Political Dialogue meeting at ...⁽⁾