Recommendation from the Commission to the Council for a letter to be signed and sent to the Presidency of the Andean Community to initiate an “exchange of letters amending the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Andean Community signed in 2003"
Date: 2007-06-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Andean Community countries, North-South relations, Venezuela, common foreign and security policy, cooperation agreement (EU), signature of an agreement

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 26.6.2007 
COM(2007) 353 final 

RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 

for a letter to be signed and sent to the Presidency of the Andean Community to initiate 
an “exchange of letters amending the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement 
between the European Community and the Andean Community signed in 2003" 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The  "Political  Dialogue  and  Cooperation  Agreement  between  the  European 
Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Andean Community and 
its member countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela), of the other 
part" was signed in Rome on 15 December 2003. The Agreement has not yet entered 
into force, as it has not been ratified by certain countries. 

In  April 2006  Venezuela,  a  member  country  of  the  Andean  Community  when  the 
above-mentioned  Agreement  was  signed,  declared  that  it  was  going  to  withdraw 
from the Andean regional bloc. This information has been officially confirmed by the 
Presidency  of  the  Andean  Community  (through  a  letter  from  the  Bolivian  Minister 
for Foreign Affairs of 20 November 2006) and by Venezuela itself (through a letter 
from  the  Venezuelan  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  18 December 2006);  on  the 
same  occasion,  Venezuela  confirmed  the  withdrawal  of  its  signature  from  the 
above-mentioned 2003 Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement. 

In  the  light  of  these  documents,  the  Legal  Services  of  the  Commission  and  of  the 
Council of the European Union concluded that Venezuela was no longer signatory to 
the Agreement, which would need to be formally amended through an exchange of 
letters.  At  the  meeting  on  20 February 2007  of  the  Latin  America  Working  Group 
(AMLAT),  the  Council  Presidency  therefore  called  on  the  Commission  to  put 
forward a proposal for such an amendment. 

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RECOMMANDATION 

In  the  light  of  the  above,  the  Commission  recommends  to  the  Council  to  sign  the  attached 
draft  letter  and  send  it  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Andean  Community  in  order  to  initiate  the 
"exchange of letters between the European Community and the Andean Community to agree 
on the deletion of references to Venezuela from the text of the Agreement". 

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ANNEX 

DRAFT LETTER 

TO INITIATE AN EXCHANGE OF LETTERS BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITY AND THE ANDEAN COMMUNITY ON VENEZUELA'S 

WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ANDEAN COMMUNITYAND THE POLITICAL 
DIALOGUE AND COOOPERATION AGREEMENT SIGNED IN 2003 

(Letter to the Presidency of the Andean Community)  

Sir, 

The European Community thanks the Presidency of the Andean Community for its letter No 
GM-419/2006-15949  of  20  November  2006  concerning  Venezuela's  withdrawal  from  the 
Andean  Community.  We  would also inform you that we have received Note No 1652 from 
the  Venezuelan  Ministry  of  External  Relations  dated  18  December  2006  also  confirming 
Venezuela's withdrawal from the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the 
European Community and the Andean Community signed in Rome on 15 December 2003. 

In  the  light  of  these  documents  and  the  legal  instruments  to  which  they  refer  (in  particular 
Case  145-AI-2005  of  the  Court  of  Justice  of  the  Andean  Community),  the  European 
Community  considers  that  Venezuela  is  no  longer  a  party  to  Political  Dialogue  and 
Cooperation Agreement signed in 2003. 

Consequently,  the  European  Community  proposes  that  references  to  Venezuela  in  the 
Agreement be deleted. This will involve the following amendments: 

Page 1, Title: 

"POLITICAL  DIALOGUE  AND  COOPERATION  AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  THE 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND ITS MEMBER STATES OF THE ONE PART, 

AND  THE  ANDEAN  COMMUNITY  AND  ITS  MEMBER  COUNTRIES  (BOLIVIA, 
COLOMBIA, ECUADOR, PERU AND VENEZUELA), OF THE OTHER PART" 

should be amended as follows: 

"POLITICAL  DIALOGUE  AND  COOPERATION  AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  THE 
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AND ITS MEMBER STATES OF THE ONE PART, 

AND  THE  ANDEAN  COMMUNITY  AND  ITS  MEMBER  COUNTRIES  (BOLIVIA, 
COLOMBIA, ECUADOR AND PERU), OF THE OTHER PART" 

Page  4,  the  reference  to  "THE  BOLIVARIAN  REPUBLIC  OF  VENEZUELA"  should  be 
deleted. 

Page 65, Article 59: 

"This  Agreement  shall  apply,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  territories  in  which  the  Treaty 
establishing the European Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that 
Treaty, and, on the other hand, to the territories of the Andean Community and its Member 
countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela)."  

should be amended as follows :  

"This  Agreement  shall  apply,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  territories  in  which  the  Treaty 
establishing the European Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that 
Treaty, and, on the other hand, to the territories of the Andean Community and its Member 
countries (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru)."» 

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I would be grateful if you would confirm the Andean Community's acceptance of the above 
amendments. If the Andean Community agrees to the amendments, the European Community 
proposes that this take the form of an exchange of letters.  

Yours faithfully, 

Signature : 

Presidency of the Council of the European Union 

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