Sixt round of EU-Cuba negotiations in Brussels

HAVANA, Dec. 3th The EU and Cuba held their sixth round of negotiations towards a bilateral Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) in Brussels on 1st and 2nd December 2015.

All three main chapters of the PDCA were discussed – political dialogue, cooperation and policy dialogue as well as trade and economic cooperation. The discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere demonstrating the ambition of both sides to make progress towards concluding the Agreement as early as possible and continue enhancing their relations.

The parties reached final agreement on all elements of the Trade and economic cooperation chapter. In addition, the negotiation of the Cooperation and Policy Dialogue chapter was almost completed, including on outstanding issues, such as consular protection and support to economic operators and business support organisations.

With respect to the Political Dialogue, the Parties made substantial progress, and reached agreement on a good number of the provisions in this chapter. In a few areas, further discussions between the Parties are still necessary during the next round to allow positions to converge. Both sides also started to exchange views on the general, institutional and final provisions as well as the Preamble of the future Agreement, in order to explain and clarify the proposals tabled.

The Parties agreed to meet again in Havana during the first months of 2016 for the 7th round of negotiations. Delegations were led by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno and EEAS Deputy Secretary General Christian Leffler.