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EU approves for Costa Rica not to be part of Parlacen.
The doubts about Costa Rica not joining the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN by its initials in Spanish), as one of the petitions made by the European Union at the beginning of negotiations for the subscription of an Association Agreement, were dispelled yesterday, after it was agreed that the representative for the dialogue would be the Legislative Assembly.
This was agreed to by the two trade blocs at the political dialogue table. And as for the other countries that are part of Parlacen, it will be that governmental body that represents them.
The head of trade negotiations, Roberto Echandi, said that having defined the institutional structure so soon almost finishes a chapter of uncertainty and gives tranquility, not only to the productive sectors, but the country in general.
“The fact that we have set aside these doubts generates a very positive environment and signals that the agreement is beginning to see the light of day. We never believed that Costa Rica had to be part of Parlacen to meet the objectives of this agreement," he said.
The Ministers of Economy and Foreign Trade of Central America met in Belgium with members of the Central American Committee of the European Parliament, chaired by Euro-deputy Raimon Obiols.
During the meeting, which lasted an hour and a half, Obiols said that the Commission he chairs is closely following the development of relations between the European Community and the Central American region and, in particular, this process of negotiation for an association agreement.
The Euro-deputies agreed that these negotiations should finish during the first half of the year, taking into account the changes in the institutional structure of the European Commission that will occur mid-year.
Another matter on which an agreement was reached was to include the issue of disarmament (as requested Central America) in the text on non-proliferation of weapons and mass destruction.
However, there are many details pending, not in depth, but in the form of the text on the fight against terrorism and establishing an economic and financial credit fund.
Echandi highlighted that there are two complex issues pending. The first is to define how Central America will address the issue of the International Criminal Court and therefore the signing of the Rome Statute, which El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua are not part of since it establishes that nations can be tried for crimes against humanity, such as genocide and torture.
The negotiator said that Costa Rica has no problem with this item, but it is in solidarity with those that are not included, which is why Costa Rica is asking that an obligatory membership not be established
and acknowledged that it is hopeful that this will be achieved.
This bit of news brings great expectations since Parlacen was once an item for which Costa Rica was frowned upon in Central America. However, over the years it has been proven that it would not have provided any benefit for the country.
For TicosLand.com, the possibility that the negotiations are going so well is an opportunity to boost our business sector if we have an agreement of this magnitude on hand.
If you want to read more about Costa Rica, try our internal blog.
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