Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Central America on the other

At the European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Summit held in Vienna on 12-13 May 2006, the Heads of State and Government of the European Union and of certain Central American Republics decided to open negotiations on an Association Agreement between the two regions, including the establishment of a Free Trade Agreement. Negotiations were formally launched in October 2007 following a Council Decision to authorise these negotiations in April 2007.

Panama, which had followed the negotiations as an observer, asked to join the negotiations in January 2010. This inclusion of Panama was formally accepted on the EU side following the amendment to the negotiating directives by the Council on 10 March 2010.

The negotiations were successfully concluded in May 2010 and - after a phase of legal review - the text of the agreement was initialled on 22 March 2011.

• Primary Source

European Commission: COM(2011)678: Proposal for a Council Decision authorising the signature and provisional application of the trade part (Part IV) of the Agreement establishing an Association between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Central America on the other http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0678:FIN:EN:PDF

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)679: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:679:FIN

EU: EEAS: Latin America and the Carribean https://eeas.europa.eu/diplomatic-network/latin-america-and-caribbean_en

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