Building on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and the Association Agreements now in place with most Mediterranean partners, the ENP has given a real opportunity to strengthen our relations with our Mediterranean partners, acknowledging fully the different circumstances and interests of the partner countries.

14. Calls on the negotiating parties to forge ahead with the negotiations on an EU-Mercosur association agreement, and with the political dialogue and cooperation agreements between the EU and the Community of Andean Nations and the EU and Central America, so that results might be available in time for the forthcoming Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held in Mexico in 2004, in line with the consolidation of the strategic bi-regional association between the two regions;

14. Calls on the negotiating parties to forge ahead with the negotiations on an EU-Mercosur association agreement, and with the political dialogue and cooperation agreements between the EU and the Community of Andean Nations and the EU and Central America, so that results might be available in time for the forthcoming Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean, to be held in Mexico in 2004, in line with the consolidation of the strategic bi-regional association between the two regions;

– (ES) Mr President, Commissioner, I would first of all like to express the satisfaction of the Group of the European Peoples’ Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats – and mine in particular – at the conclusion of this association agreement between the Community and its Member States and Chile, the most ambitious, innovative and global agreement the European Union has ever negotiated with a country which is not a candidate for accession, to use the words of the European Commission, in line with what, as has been said already, should be the bi-regional strategic partnership between Latin America and the European Union that thi ...[+++]s Parliament proposed.

This agreement – as the Commissioner quite rightly pointed out – takes a similar approach to the Association Agreement with Mexico which has lead to an increase in commercial transactions since its entry into force and which is an agreement which goes much further than these requirements, since it provides for the liberalisation of 100% of transactions, many going much further than the forecasts established in the negotiations of the World Trade Organisation.

In cases where more complex genetic modifications are produced, for example, via transfer of multiple genes in a single construct, retransformation of pre-existing genetically modified lines, and stacking of transformation events through conventional breeding of genetically modified parents, the applicant shall discuss strategies for the assessment of any risk(s) associated with possible interactions between the newly expressed proteins, new metabolites and original plant constituents.