VI EUROPEAN UNION – LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN SUMMIT

I. PARTNERS IN JOINTLY ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES

2. 2. In order to pro­mote peace and secu­ri­ty, free­dom, democ­ra­cy, rule of law, human rights and pros­per­i­ty, we reit­er­ate our com­mit­ment to mul­ti­lat­er­al­ism, main­ly in the frame­work of the Unit­ed Nations sys­tem. With­in this con­text, we shall inten­si­fy our efforts at both sub-region­al and bi-region­al lev­els to iden­ti­fy com­mon inter­ests and, when­ev­er pos­si­ble, coor­di­nate posi­tions and actions in the mul­ti­lat­er­al orga­ni­za­tions and fora of which our coun­tries are Par­ties. In order to con­tin­ue pro­mot­ing an effec­tive mul­ti­lat­er­al sys­tem, we remain will­ing to coop­er­ate in the reform of the Unit­ed Nations, with the aim of strength­en­ing the capac­i­ty of the UN to face the many chal­lenges posed by the new mil­len­ni­um. We recog­nise the need to pur­sue the com­pre­hen­sive reform of the main UN bod­ies, among them the Gen­er­al Assem­bly, ECOSOC and the Secu­ri­ty Coun­cil with a view to enhanc­ing the rep­re­sen­ta­tive­ness, trans­paren­cy and effec­tive­ness of the system.

3. We reit­er­ate our sup­port to nuclear dis­ar­ma­ment and non pro­lif­er­a­tion. We com­mit our­selves to con­tin­u­ing our joint efforts toward the suc­cess of the VIII Review Con­fer­ence on the Treaty on the Non-Pro­lif­er­a­tion of Nuclear Weapons.

4. We equal­ly com­mit to the Unit­ed Nations Con­fer­ence on the Arms Trade Treaty, which will be under­tak­en in an open and trans­par­ent man­ner, on the basis of con­sen­sus, to achieve a strong and robust treaty.

5. 5. We con­firm our com­mit­ment to the Uni­ver­sal Dec­la­ra­tion of Human Rights, and the 1993 Vien­na Dec­la­ra­tion and Pro­gramme of Action as well as to the pro­mo­tion and pro­tec­tion of uni­ver­sal human rights as well as high­light our will­ing­ness to coop­er­ate towards the com­mon goal of attain­ing the high­est human rights stan­dards. Fur­ther­more, we empha­sise our mutu­al wish to extend our coor­di­na­tion, in fora such as the Human Rights Coun­cil in Gene­va and the UNGA Third Com­mit­tee in New York.

We acknowl­edge the efforts relat­ed to the mora­to­ri­um on the use of the death penalty.

6. We reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to fight impuni­ty, in par­tic­u­lar for the most seri­ous crimes under inter­na­tion­al law, notably those referred to in the Rome Statute of the Inter­na­tion­al Crim­i­nal Court (ICC). Their pros­e­cu­tion should be ensured by tak­ing mea­sures at the nation­al or appro­pri­ate lev­el and by enhanc­ing inter­na­tion­al coop­er­a­tion. We invite those coun­tries which are not par­ties to con­sid­er the pos­si­bil­i­ty to rat­i­fy or accede, as applic­a­ble, to the Rome Statute. We wel­come the forth­com­ing ICC Review Con­fer­ence in Kam­pala, Ugan­da, from May 31st to June 11th, 2010. 

7. We reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to the pur­pos­es and prin­ci­ples enshrined in the Char­ter of the Unit­ed Nations. We reaf­firm our deci­sion to sup­port all efforts to uphold sov­er­eign equal­i­ty of all States, to respect their ter­ri­to­r­i­al integri­ty and polit­i­cal inde­pen­dence, to refrain in our inter­na­tion­al rela­tions from the threat or use of force in any man­ner incon­sis­tent with the pur­pos­es and prin­ci­ples of the Unit­ed Nations, to uphold res­o­lu­tion of dis­putes by peace­ful means and in con­for­mi­ty with the prin­ci­ples of jus­tice and inter­na­tion­al law. We firm­ly reject all coer­cive mea­sures of uni­lat­er­al char­ac­ter with extrater­ri­to­r­i­al effect that are con­trary to inter­na­tion­al law and the com­mon­ly accept­ed rules of free trade. We agree that this type of prac­tice pos­es a seri­ous threat to mul­ti­lat­er­al­ism. In this con­text, and with ref­er­ence to UNGA res­o­lu­tion A/RES/64/6, we reaf­firm our well-known posi­tions on the appli­ca­tion of the extra-ter­ri­to­r­i­al pro­vi­sions of the Helms-Bur­ton Act.

8. We are deter­mined to inten­si­fy our coop­er­a­tion in order to address the glob­al con­se­quences of the eco­nom­ic and finan­cial cri­sis and to pre­vent such crises from unfold­ing again, in line with the out­comes of the UN Con­fer­ence on the World Finan­cial and Eco­nom­ic Cri­sis and its impact on Devel­op­ment (June 22nd-23rd, 2009), and also tak­ing into account the goals set by the G‑20 and appro­pri­ate region­al fora. We will con­tin­ue to strive to apply macro­eco­nom­ic and finan­cial poli­cies designed to pre­vent future finan­cial crises with their atten­dant eco­nom­ic and social con­se­quences; fos­ter bal­anced and sus­tain­able glob­al eco­nom­ic growth; restore con­fi­dence; and sta­bi­lize world finan­cial mar­kets. We under­line the impor­tance to devote spe­cial atten­tion to the social and eco­nom­ic impact of the cri­sis notably in devel­op­ing coun­tries. We empha­sise the need to rein­force sup­port for vul­ner­a­ble and poor people.

In that con­text, we reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to work togeth­er towards a new inter­na­tion­al finan­cial archi­tec­ture, includ­ing the reform of the inter­na­tion­al finan­cial insti­tu­tions, giv­ing increased voice and vot­ing pow­er to under­rep­re­sent­ed devel­op­ing and tran­si­tion coun­tries while also deliv­er­ing on non-quo­ta gov­er­nance reforms. We also reaf­firm our com­mit­ment to put in place reforms of the inter­na­tion­al reg­u­la­to­ry and finan­cial super­vi­sion frame­work, aimed at guar­an­tee­ing the sta­bil­i­ty and sol­ven­cy of our finan­cial systems.

9. We recall the 30th anniver­sary of the adop­tion of the Con­ven­tion to elim­i­nate all forms of dis­crim­i­na­tion against women (CEDAW), as well as the 15th anniver­sary of the adop­tion of the “Bei­jing Dec­la­ra­tion and Plat­form for Action” (Bei­jing plus 15) and empha­size the impor­tance of gen­der equal­i­ty and the empow­er­ing of women, increas­ing their par­tic­i­pa­tion in polit­i­cal, social and eco­nom­ic activ­i­ties and address­ing the neg­a­tive impact of the inter­na­tion­al finan­cial cri­sis on their sta­tus. On the same line, we strong­ly con­demn all kind of gen­der-based vio­lence, and rec­og­nize the need to take every nec­es­sary mea­sure to pre­vent and erad­i­cate it. We acknowl­edge that gen­der issues need to be inte­grat­ed into every aspect of the inter­na­tion­al agen­da, includ­ing cli­mate change. In this respect, we are com­mit­ted to coop­er­ate, with a view to devel­op a future dialogue.

10. We express our intent to improve the coher­ence and effec­tive­ness of our devel­op­ment coop­er­a­tion poli­cies and to achieve the tar­get of 0.56% by 2010 and to achieve the tar­get of ODA/GNI ratio of 0.7% for the EU by 2015 as reflect­ed in the Mon­ter­rey Con­sen­sus and the Vien­na Sum­mit Dec­la­ra­tion. The Mem­ber States which joined the EU after 2002 will endeav­our to increase their ODA/GNI ratio to 0.33% by 2015. Fur­ther­more, we rec­og­nize the impor­tance of work­ing togeth­er at the Unit­ed Nations High-Lev­el Ple­nary Meet­ing on the Mil­len­ni­um Devel­op­ment Goals (MDGs) in Sep­tem­ber 2010, with a view to an action ori­ent­ed out­come to achieve the MDGs between now and 2015. We also rec­og­nize the sig­nif­i­cant progress made at region­al lev­els towards achiev­ing the MDGs.

11. We reit­er­ate our com­mit­ment to pay spe­cial atten­tion to least devel­oped coun­tries, land-locked devel­op­ing coun­tries and small island devel­op­ing states

12. We are com­mit­ted to avoid pro­tec­tion­ism in all its forms. We remain deter­mined to favour an open and non dis­crim­i­na­to­ry, rules-based mul­ti­lat­er­al trade sys­tem and ful­ly respect its dis­ci­plines, and we rec­og­nize its con­tri­bu­tion in pro­mot­ing the recov­ery from the eco­nom­ic cri­sis, and in pro­mot­ing growth and devel­op­ment, in line with the prin­ci­ple of spe­cial and dif­fer­en­tial treat­ment for devel­op­ing coun­tries where appro­pri­ate. Con­cern­ing the ongo­ing WTO nego­ti­at­ing agen­da, we reit­er­ate our com­mit­ment to coor­di­nate efforts towards achiev­ing an ambi­tious, com­pre­hen­sive, bal­anced and rapid con­clu­sion of the Doha Devel­op­ment Round.

13. We rec­og­nize the prin­ci­ple of the sov­er­eign right of States to man­age and reg­u­late their nat­ur­al resources. Sus­tain­abil­i­ty cri­te­ria should be tak­en into account. We regard as essen­tial con­tri­bu­tions to the erad­i­ca­tion of pover­ty and to the achieve­ment of the Mil­len­ni­um Devel­op­ment Goals, the diver­si­fi­ca­tion and com­ple­men­tar­i­ty of the ener­gy matrix, includ­ing through the pro­mo­tion of renew­able ener­gy, as well as greater ener­gy effi­cien­cy and ener­gy sav­ings in all sec­tors of the economies, includ­ing trans­ports, changes in the cur­rent pat­terns of con­sump­tion and pro­duc­tion, improved region­al ener­gy inter­con­nec­tiv­i­ty and peo­ples´ access to ener­gy services.

We will exchange expe­ri­ences on bio­fu­el tech­nol­o­gy, norms and reg­u­la­tions, on hydro­elec­tric and on oth­er energies. 

14. We acknowl­edge our com­mon inter­est in improv­ing ener­gy effi­cien­cy and in reduc­ing the inten­si­ty of green­house gas emis­sions in con­sump­tion and pro­duc­tion activ­i­ties in our coun­tries, accord­ing to exist­ing inter­na­tion­al com­mit­ments, to address the eco­nom­ic, social, envi­ron­men­tal and oth­er chal­lenges posed by cli­mate change. We fur­ther under­line the impor­tance of low emis­sions sus­tain­able devel­op­ment strate­gies, for growth and devel­op­ment, in guid­ing and imple­ment­ing adap­ta­tion and mit­i­ga­tion mea­sures and actions. In accor­dance with the com­mit­ments under the Unit­ed Nations Frame­work Con­ven­tion on Cli­mate Change (UNFCCC), we shall strength­en trust between our regions on cli­mate change issues and inten­si­fy our coop­er­a­tion, towards achiev­ing its objectives.

15. After COP 15 in Copen­hagen and work­ing togeth­er ahead of the COP 16 of the Unit­ed Nations Frame­work Con­ven­tion on Cli­mate Change, recog­nis­ing sci­en­tif­ic views regard­ing the lim­it for the increase in the glob­al tem­per­a­ture and build­ing on progress made so far in the for­mal mul­ti­lat­er­al process, through the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Pro­to­col, we express our sup­port to Mex­i­co in obtain­ing, through a trans­par­ent and inclu­sive nego­ti­a­tion process towards a com­pre­hen­sive, ambi­tious and effec­tive legal­ly bind­ing out­come aimed at reduc­ing and lim­it­ing green­house gas emis­sions in order to achieve the ulti­mate objec­tive of the UNFCCC, tak­ing into account the prin­ci­ple of com­mon but dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed respon­si­bil­i­ties and respec­tive capabilities.

16. We take note that events were orga­nized to stim­u­late the debate on Cli­mate Change, such as the Con­fer­ence on Cli­mate Change that took place in Cochabam­ba which con­clu­sions have been sent to the UNFCCC, and the Dia­logue for Pro­gres­sive Action that took place in Cartagena.

17. We are deter­mined to step up our efforts with­in the frame­work of the Con­ven­tion on Bio­log­i­cal Diver­si­ty for the con­ser­va­tion and sus­tain­able use of bio­di­ver­si­ty, and will con­tin­ue our efforts to sig­nif­i­cant­ly reduce the loss of bio­di­ver­si­ty, bear­ing in mind the MDGs and the con­tri­bu­tion of bio­di­ver­si­ty for pover­ty erad­i­ca­tion. We are deter­mined to work towards the adop­tion of an effec­tive and focused Strate­gic Plan for the post-2010 peri­od includ­ing mea­sur­able, achiev­able and real­is­tic tar­gets, at the 10th Con­fer­ence of the Par­ties to the CBD (COP10). We also recon­firm our com­mit­ment to suc­cess­ful­ly con­clude the nego­ti­a­tions on an inter­na­tion­al legal regime on access to genet­ic resources and ben­e­fit shar­ing (ABS) at COP10. We look for­ward to reach­ing an agree­ment on whether to estab­lish an inter­gov­ern­men­tal plat­form on bio­di­ver­si­ty and ecosys­tem ser­vices (IPBES) at the third and final ad hoc meet­ing in Busan, Repub­lic of Korea, in June 2010.

18. We are deter­mined to pos­i­tive­ly con­tribute to the launch­ing of the UNEP Inter­gov­ern­men­tal Nego­ti­at­ing Com­mit­tee to devel­op a legal­ly bind­ing instru­ment on mer­cury, which first ses­sion will take place in Stock­holm, from 7 to 11 June 2010. 

19. We reaf­firm that every cul­ture has a right to exist and to pre­serve its own cul­tur­al her­itage. In this regard, inter­cul­tur­al dia­logue should fos­ter mutu­al under­stand­ing, safe­guard diver­si­ty, and cul­tur­al iden­ti­ty, while fos­ter­ing the devel­op­ment of cul­tur­al industries.

20. We should inten­si­fy our coop­er­a­tion regard­ing the chal­lenges posed by ter­ror­ism, trans-nation­al orga­nized crime, cor­rup­tion, ille­gal traf­fick­ing in arms and ammu­ni­tion, the world drug prob­lem, drugs relat­ed arms traf­fick­ing, money­laun­der­ing, traf­fick­ing in per­sons, espe­cial­ly women and chil­dren; and smug­gling of migrants.

We express our con­cern at the grow­ing vio­lence relat­ed, in some cas­es, to crim­i­nal orga­ni­za­tions involved in the traf­fick­ing in illic­it drugs, and call for actions to pre­vent those orga­ni­za­tions from acquir­ing the means to pur­sue their activ­i­ties that have the poten­tial to affect civ­il soci­ety as well as law enforce­ment authorities.

We strong­ly reject ter­ror­ism in all its forms and man­i­fes­ta­tions and reaf­firm that, whichev­er its ori­gin or moti­va­tion, it does not find any jus­ti­fi­ca­tion what­so­ev­er. We reit­er­ate also our com­mit­ment to pre­vent, fight and elim­i­nate ter­ror­ism and its financ­ing through the broad­est cooperation.

Our coop­er­a­tion to fight all these chal­lenges will be car­ried out with full respect to human rights and the rule of law and in com­pli­ance with inter­na­tion­al law.

21. We sup­port coop­er­a­tion in peace and secu­ri­ty mat­ters with the objec­tive to strength­en the role of the UN in this field, includ­ing con­flict pre­ven­tion and cri­sis man­age­ment. We will devel­op our bi-region­al dia­logue in this area.