The EU-Andean Trade SIA has been prepared in response to a tender from the European Commission covering trade sustainability impact assessments. A copy of the European Commission’s Terms of Reference are available here.
The Andean Community (CAN) was created on 26 May 1969 with the signing of the Cartagena Agreement between Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The original group has changed shape since – Chile withdrew under General Pinochet’s rule in 1976; and Venezuela joined in 1973 only to withdraw in 2006 over a dispute regarding FTAs with the United States and individual CAN countries.
In the years in between the Andean Countries have established a series of institutional frameworks to help foster integration: the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, the Andean Parliament and the Andean Court of Justice were established by 1979; while the process of further legal and economic integration continues to progress via policies including the Common Foreign Policy Guidelines, the Advisory Council of Treasury and Finance Ministers, Central Banks and Economic Planning Authorities.
In terms of economic history, in the 1970s and 1980s import substitution saw the use of high import duties to protect predominantly state-planned economies. These were contributing factors to the economic crises of the 1980s, leading in turn to the coordinated opening up of economies from 1989, specifically via the signing of the Strategic Design “Globalisation through Integration”. This initiative helped forge the Andean Presidential Council in 1990, while a free trade zone was realised in 1993.
In the recent past the European Union (EU) has played an increasing partnership role with Andean region countries, acting as a reference point on the further integration and growth of the Andean Community. Further, in 2001 the Andean Community was admitted to the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences to aid its efforts in combating drug trafficking. Finally, following a 2002 Declaration to ensure not only regional integration but also integration with the greater Americas area and Europe, in 2003 the EU and CAN jointly launched a Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement that would eventually lead to the ongoing Association Agreement negotiations, which began in 2007. The Association Agreement aims to achieve significant progress in the areas of trade and political cooperation with Andean regional countries.
