Bolivia has laid out its baseline negotiating positions for the Association Agreement between the Community of Andean Nations and the European Union due to start negotiating in mid July. The proposal was made at the meeting of the Presidents of the Andean Community of Nations in June 2006 in Quito.

If the CAN countries work out their differences, including establishment of a common tariff, EU-CAN talks could get under way in January 2007, and the association agreement, which includes political, economic, and trade chapters, would be establish in May 2008.

Bolivian Proposal:
Baseline positions for an Association Agreement of the Community of Andean Nations (CAN) - European Union (EU) for the benefit of the peoples

1) An Association Agreement must fundamentally be an Agreement of Complementarity at different levels between the Community of Andean Nations and the European Union in order to together find solutions to issues of migration, drug trafficking, preservation of the environment, the structural problems that create poverty and unemployment, the strengthening of our identities and the empowering and recovering of our States, and the development of authentic democracy which is participatory and inclusive of all sectors, especially the indigenous peoples who have been excluded for more than 500 years.

2) The peoples, human beings and nature, must be the principal beneficiaries of this Association Agreement. We must overcome the practice in which multinational business interests are put before the needs of the population and the environment. Civil society and social organizations must participate actively in the construction of an Association Agreement in order to create a true integration that involves States and the Peoples.

3) Political dialogue must be balanced and reciprocal, recognizing that both sides have much to learn from each other, in issues such as formal, participatory and communal democracy. It is crucial to promote an interchange of experiences on issues such as autonomy, decentralization, the fight against corruption, transparency, consensual solutions to conflicts, a culture of peace and integration with sovereignty.

4) The fight against drug trafficking is of vital importance for the CAN and the EU. Both have to make maximum efforts to cut the various links in the chain of drug trafficking which includes the laundering of dollars in banks, the diversion of inputs and chemicals used to produce drugs, and the production, transport and commercialization of drugs. Up to now the war on drugs has failed. It is necessary to make a change which involves working with society in order to confront the plague of drugs.

5) We cannot confuse the coca leaf with cocaine. The coca leaf in its natural state harms no one and moreover should be industrialized for different beneficial ends for humanity. It is crucial that the coca leaf is immediately legalized and recognized as an essential part of the culture of Andean indigenous peoples. In Bolivia we are implementing a "consensual policy of rationalization and control of production of coca" with small coca-producer farmers' organizations in order to prevent the diversion of the leaf towards cocaine production.

6) Aid from the EU for CAN should be without conditions that affect the sovereign policies adopted by CAN States. Aid must contribute to overcoming the structural causes of dependency and colonialism which exist in our States. The strengthening of the productive apparatus, the industrialization of our natural resources, the development of integrated infrastructure and the strengthening and universal provision of public services must be the priorities of aid given without conditions.

7) We must establish financing mechanisms for development which overcome the negative experiences of external debt and donations with conditionalities. We must promote a fundamental change in multilateral aid organizations (World Bank, IMF, IADB and others) in order to properly meet the priorities defined by sovereign States.

8) Migration is a problem which affects the EU as well as CAN. Together we must build a strategic alliance in order to resolve the structural problem of unemployment and poverty which cause hundreds of thousands of Andean citizens to abandon their countries in order to seek some sort of future in Europe. The drama of migration can not be resolved by police or administrative measures, and must always include caring for the human rights of migrants. It is crucial that aid and trade interchange with the European Union contributes towards resolving structural problems of creating permanent and sustainable employment.

9) It is necessary to construct a strategic alliance in order to defend nature and the environment from the destructive processes of industrial pollution. Together we must prevent companies from migrating from one region to another in order to take advantage of the lowest environmental standards. We all must learn from indigenous peoples on how to live in harmony with nature.

10) The rules of this Association Agreement in the sphere of trade cannot be equal for both parties while profound inequality exists both between and within regions. The GDP of the EU is 50 times the GDP of CAN, and in comparison with some countries such as Ecuador and Bolivia is between 300 and 1000 times greater. In order to have a just and equitable agreement the approved rules must be much more favourable to CAN than to the EU. This is not a question of a better application of "Special and Differential treatment" but rather unequal rules which allow a balanced integration of unequal realities.

11) In terms of market access it is fundamental that the European Union unilaterally establishes a zero tariff for all CAN products, especially goods with added value. In order to support the effective development of small producers, micro-industries, cooperatives, small farmer economic associations and organizations, it will be necessary not just to grant a zero tariff but also to offer secure markets for their products through the granting of preferences in government purchases by the countries of the European Union as well as through other mechanisms. Access to markets must be real, eliminating non-tariff barriers, technical rules and phyto-sanitary restrictions which do not allow a real possibility of a just trade exchange.

12) Agriculture can not be treated as another economic activity as the life and nutrition of millions of peoples depend on it, as well as the survival and culture of hundreds of indigenous peoples in the Andean region. States have the right and the obligation to guarantee food sovereignty and security of their population, ensuring that the collective good prevails over the interests of agribusiness. The promotion of ecological agriculture must be a priority, as well as the opening of markets to Andean products in order to achieve development in harmony with nature.

13) We must recognize the right of States, especially those with the smallest economies, to protect their internal markets and to give incentives to national producers by means of different mechanisms such as government purchases. The intervention of States at all levels is fundamental in order to reactivate productive apparatuses in the smallest and least competitive economies.

14) It is necessary to promote foreign investment in the Andean region which contributes to development by means of technology transfer, the use of Andean primary materials and inputs, the contracting of national labour and respect for environmental and labour laws and other regulations in each sector. The guarantees and protection of States must be extended to investors that truly invest in the country and any dispute between a foreign investor and a State must be resolved under national jurisdiction and not by international arbitration panels which are already causing severe harm to Andean countries. Every foreign investor has the right to recover their investment and to have a reasonable profit but can not ask for compensation for exorbitant or future profits. The Association Agreement must strengthen the sovereign decision of Andean countries to recover and/or exercise control over its natural resources.

15) On the issue of intellectual property it is crucial that access to generic medicines is guaranteed and that obligatory licenses for patented medicines are widened for public health needs. The patenting of plants, seeds, animals and micro-organisms and all living material must be prohibited. We must recognize and protect the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples and must begin a broad debate on the concept of patents and intellectual property in order to prevent the privatization of knowledge.

16) On the level of services, an Association Agreement must strengthen the regulatory capacity and management of the State in order to guarantee the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals. It is essential to strengthen public services and not promote their liberalization or privatization. The Association Agreement must seek to strengthen and universalize essential public services such as health, education, social security, water and basic sanitation through the promotion of associations and the transfer of knowledge of public service companies in the European Union. It is essential to reduce military and arms budgets in order to redirect resources to guaranteeing the provision of basic services to all the population.

17) We must redirect the processes of integration, subordinating commercial aspects to the needs of development with sovereignty and distinctiveness in each of our nations and peoples. The situation of crisis which arises at the level of different integration processes must be treated as opportunities to rethink those processes. The CAN and all governments and peoples of South America face the challenge of overcoming our mistakes and designing a new process of integration with and for the people within the South American Community of Nations.