Submission by:  Mr. Juan Andrés Cambindo Cuenu

I welcome Mr. Cuenu to the committee and thank him for his presentation. It is interesting that it raises for us as parliamentarians on a European Affairs committee the issue of trade agreements between the European Union and countries with poor human rights records. We discussed recently the agreement the European Union has with Israel and the fact that the human rights clauses of the agreement are not being respected by Israel but the EU is doing nothing to ensure the enforcement of those clauses. Similar issues have been raised today.

Mr. Cuenu mentioned that the European Union is negotiating a new free trade agreement with Colombia while knowing that Colombia has a poor human rights record. It confronts us with the question of the most appropriate way for us to use our influence to affect that negotiation process. Is it Mr. Cuenu’s wish that we seek a halt to the negotiations on the agreement or is he seeking tighter conditions, particularly in terms of trade unions in Colombia?

In Colombia, 70% of the drugs used are generic but this free trade agreement will mean those drugs will be unavailable to the population for 25 years to come. What other issues within this proposed free trade agreement might impact on the people of Colombia? Is water an issue?

What level of public awareness is there in Colombia about the free trade agreement? To what extent has civil society been involved with or consulted about it?

To clarify Deputy Thomas Byrne’s point, there is a tendency to think trade policy is agreed at a European level and that it is not something we can necessarily influence but even though the Commission conducts the negotiations, it is given a mandate by the Council of Ministers to do so and must return to it for approval before any trade agreement can be finalised and agreed. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coughlan, is in a position to exert influence over what happens in the negotiations on the trade agreement being negotiated.

For the full text of the discussion click on link the below:

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=EUJ20090416.xml&Node=H2&Page=2

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European Affairs by Deirdre