Cuba and EU leaders agree to restart economic and political relations

Cuba and EU leaders agree to restart economic and political relations

EU members and Havana decide to push back debate on human rights

La UE y Cuba acuerdan refundar su relación económica y política

Talks to normalize bilateral relations begin

MAYE PRIMERA Miami 1 MAY 2014 - 17:28 CET



Politics and economics will be the main topics of conversation at the

relaunch of the new Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between

Cuba and the European Union. According to remarks by European External

Action Service (EEAS) Director General for the Americas Christian

Leffler, the debate on securing human rights on the island will come

later. The objective of the first round of talks was establishing the

foundation and framework for future negotiations on normalizing

bilateral relations and lifting the Common Position in the future. The

Union's Common Position is a veto that frames any discussion regarding

democracy and basic human rights within Cuba.



After private meetings in Havana on Tuesday, the parties agreed to build

the new agreement on three pillars: political dialogue and governance,

cooperation and regional politics, and economy and commerce. The accord

will also contain a section on management of the bilateral relationship.



The interpretation of human rights is still a point of disagreement for

Cuba and the EU but it will be continue to be "an important theme in the

development of the agreement," Leffler said. The parties' conclusion

will be incorporated "in the appropriate manner" in the section on

politics and governance, he added.



Havana and Brussels avoided debate on the current Common Position during

this first meeting. EU members approved that diplomatic framework on

December 2, 1996 at the urging of then Spanish President José María

Aznar. "The Common Position is still in force in the European Union,"

Leffler began. "And we all know that. It is not going to change at the

beginning of these negotiations. We haven't talked about it. The

negotiations are taking their logical course. They have their own

dynamic." For the government of the Castro brothers, EU sanctions are

nothing more than an extension of the commercial and financial embargo

the United States has imposed on Havana since the 1960s.



The Common Position is still in force in the European Union. The

negotiations are taking their logical course. They have their own dynamic."

Cuba is the only country in the region with which the European Union has

not signed a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement. Still, this

fact has not kept half of EU members from maintaining relations with the

island. Fourteen countries currently hold cooperation agreements and

memoranda of understanding with Havana and about 50 percent of direct

foreign investment on the island comes from Europe.



The restart of bilateral relations coincides with the passage of a new

law to attract foreign investment to Cuba. This measure, approved in

late March, is one step in the slow process to liberalize the economy

and modernize the Socialist model that Raúl Castro implemented in an

attempt to salvage the depleted coffers of the regime.



The European Union took the first step on January 29 of this year. The

Foreign Affairs Council decided, by unanimous vote, to discuss a new

framework for political dialogue with Cuba after a lengthy period of

debates and consultations. At that point, countries like Germany, Poland

and the Czech Republic that held reservations had the opportunity to

press for supervision of human rights on the island. A month later, on

March 6, the Cuban government accepted the EU invitation to begin a

dialogue.



No date has been set for the second round of talks but meetings are

expected to take place every two months in Havana or in Brussels. In the

interim, the parties will keep in touch through phone conversations,

e-mails and video conferences.



Source: Cuba and EU leaders agree to restart economic and political

relations | In English | EL PAÍS -

http://elpais.com/elpais/2014/05/01/inenglish/1398955105_825664.html