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