Declaration of Support for the Andean Parliament
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Asamblea Parlamentaria Euro-Latinoamericana Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly Assemblée Parlementaire Euro-Latino Américaine Assembleia Parlamentar Euro-Latino-Americana Parlamentarische Versammlung Europa-Lateinamerika DECLARATION OF SUPPORT FOR THE ANDEAN PARLIAMENT The Co-Presidents of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), the Member of Parliament Leonel Búcaro, for the Latin American component, and the Member of the European Parliament José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, in accordance with Article 18 of the Rules of Procedure of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, on the occasion of its Seventh Ordinary Plenary Session, held in the city of Athens, Greece, on 27-29 March 2014 and in view of the considerations of the Andean Parliament set out in the Annex 1. Express their solidarity and support for the Andean Parliament as the deliberative body of the Andean Integration System, representing the peoples of the Andean Community; 2. Consider it important to help the Andean Community achieve the integration of the Andean peoples and not only their governments; 3. Stress the importance of closely examining a situation in which the phasing-out of the Andean Parliament would be an obstacle to the democratic legitimisation of the Andean integration process; 4. Reaffirm their support for efforts by the Andean Parliament to adapt to the new vision and strategic guidelines embraced by the Andean Community and to the co-existence between this and other sub-regional parliamentary areas. DL\1024684EN.doc AP101.595v01-00 EN EN ANNEX CONSIDERATIONS OF THE ANDEAN PARLIAMENT REGARDING THE INSTITUTIONAL CRISIS Within the framework of the Seventh Ordinary Plenary Meeting of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), the Members of the Andean Parliament call on the Members of the EuroLat Assembly to take the following considerations into account, on the basis of the resolution on EU-Latin America relations with a view to the Fifth Lima Summit, with special reference to democratic governance, adopted at its First Ordinary Plenary Session from 18 to 20 December 2007 in Brussels, Belgium, and on the basis of Articles 1, 3 and 18 of the Rules of Procedure of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly: The Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly was created in November 2006 as the Parliamentary Institution of the Bi-regional Strategy Partnership between the European Union and Latin America, promoting transparency in that process and enabling it to be brought closer to the interests and expectations of their citizens. Its objectives include helping to support, promote and consolidate policy making in areas such as democracy, external policy, governance, integration, peace and human rights. The Andean Parliament was a driving force behind the creation of the Parliamentary Assembly and is one of the supranational parliaments making up the Latin American component Under Decision 792, adopted by the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers in an enlarged meeting with the representatives of the Commission of the Andean Community, the implementation of measures for the re-engineering of the Andean Integration System was approved. Under that Decision, it was agreed to set up a High-Level Group to start work on the preparation of a protocol to facilitate the exit of the Andean Parliament from the Andean Integration System, which, once signed, must be submitted for approval to the legislatures of the member countries. AP101.595v01-00 2/3 DL\1024684EN.doc EN This is at odds with the report drawn up by the Getulio Vargas Foundation recommending the consolidation of the Andean Parliament and the assignment of parliamentary management responsibilities for the purposes of political dialogue and the drafting of legislation on social issues relating to the Andean integration process, with a view to deepening the foundations of the Andean Community (CAN) and revitalising the Andean Integration System. The reports on the re-engineering process highlight the work of the Andean Parliament as a key component that makes a significant contribution to the democratic values required by the Andean Integration System in order to achieve the levels of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency deemed to be essential by the Andean Presidential Council if the Andean Community is to rise to the challenges facing it at international level. The proposed phasing-out of the joint deliberative body from the Andean Integration System strikes an unprecedented blow against institutional structures, the democratic values of the Andean peoples and the popular mandate directly endowed by the citizens of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in democratic and transparent elections. The phasing-out of the Andean Parliament from the CAN means abandoning the basic principle of the social integration of peoples enshrined in the Protocol of Trujillo, under which the Andean Integration System was created. It is impossible for the Andean Parliament to join the South American Parliament, given that the latter does not exist. The phasing-out of the Andean Parliament will create an undeniable democratic deficit in the region. DL\1024684EN.doc 3/3 AP101.595v01-00 EN.