Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray met today with Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness.
The two officials discussed the modernization of the bilateral legal framework between Mexico and the European Union, agreeing on the importance of concluding negotiation of the new agreement in the coming weeks, and signing it in the next few months. Modernizing the bilateral legal framework will strengthen trade and investment and expand the bilateral political dialogue and areas of cooperation between the two parties.
They also stressed the importance of having an agreement that has been adapted to the new international reality and allows us to face the global challenges together. Foreign Secretary Videgaray reiterated Mexico's commitment to continuing as a strategic partner of the European Union and its readiness to collaborate in international forums to defend common values such as free trade and multilateralism, among others.
The Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement that currently guides the bilateral relationship was signed in 1997 and entered into force in 2000. Bilateral trade has tripled since then, going from 20.8 to 61.7 billion USD.
Mexico has been one of the European Union's ten strategic partners since 2009