Delegations from the European Union (EU) and Mexico met in Brussels on November 13 for the fifth round of negotiations to modernize political and cooperation aspects of the Global Agreement. Ambassador Carlos de Icaza, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, and Ambassador Agustín García-López Loaeza, Executive Director of the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid) led the Mexican delegation. Edita Hrdá, EU chief negotiator and Managing Director for the Americas of the European External Action Service (EEAS), led the EU side, together with Jolita Butkeviciene, Director for Development Cooperation for Latin America and the Caribbean (DG DEVCO).
The negotiations are for a new agreement to replace the current Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement (Global Agreement) signed in 1997 that entered into force in 2000.
Building on the progress made during previous rounds, the parties discussed the remaining articles on political dialogue and cooperation.
In general, they reached agreement on most of the issues and welcomed the fact that the negotiations are now in their final stages.
The conversations also covered institutional and final provisions, in which significant progress was made.
The two parties reaffirmed their commitment to concluding negotiations on the entire agreement this year and and agreed to hold a sixth round of negotiations in Mexico City on November 29-30 to conclude talks on the remaining issues.
Updating the legal framework will strengthen the strategic partnership between Mexico and the EU, increase trade and investment for the benefit of all, strengthen the political dialogue and increase cooperation and coordination on foreign and security policy issues in order to better respond to global challenges such as security threats, migration, climate change, human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, among others.