Fourth meeting of the Association Council between the EU and Latvia

Joint Press Release

Brussels, 27 February 2001

1.  The EU-Latvia Association Council held its fourth meeting on Tuesday 27 February 2001. Mr Indulis BERZINS, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, was in the chair. Mrs Anna LINDH, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden and President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union, headed the European Union delegation. Mr Günter VERHEUGEN, Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, and Mr Frans VAN DAELE, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the European Union, were also part of the European Union delegation (Troika format).

The Association Council welcomed the reaffirmation of the priority of the enlargement process by the Feira and the Nice European Councils, and recalled that the Nice European Council expressed its belief that the time has now come to lend fresh impetus to the process. In this context, the Association Council noted that the strategy outlined for the continuation of the accession negotiations, together with the completion of the Intergovernmental Conference on institutional reform, placed the Union in a position to welcome from the end of 2002 as new Member States those which are ready.

Against this background, the Association Council provided a valuable opportunity to review Latvia's progress in the framework of the pre-accession strategy and to consider priorities for further work within the framework of the Europe Agreement.

2.  The Association Council reviewed the state of Latvia's preparation for accession in the light of the latest Regular Report, issued by the European Commission in November 2000, the Accession Partnership, updated in December 1999, and the Latvian National Programme for Adoption of the Acquis, which was revised in May 2000.

With regard to the Copenhagen political criteria, the Association Council welcomed the important steps recently taken by Latvia to support the integration of non-citizens into society, especially by the adopting Society Integration program as well as the adopting of the Language Law and its implementing regulations. It stressed the importance of an effective application of these measures. It encouraged Latvia to maintain the effectiveness of the naturalisation process, to continue the Latvian language-training programme as well as to allocate sufficient resources to measures promoting the integration of non-citizens.

The Association Council noted with satisfaction that macro-economic stability has been preserved and progress was made on structural reform, whilst encouraging Latvia to keep the current-account deficit under control and to pursue fiscal discipline. It invited Latvia to continue to foster domestic enterprise creation by further improving the environment for foreign investors and by enhancing infrastructures and access to finance. The privatisation of the remaining large companies should be completed.

The Association Council noted with satisfaction that Latvia has continued to make good progress in aligning its legislation to the EU "acquis", in particular as regards the internal market, where progress is still needed however, notably as regards the enforcement of intellectual property rights. It encouraged Latvia to build upon the progress already made in the fields of agriculture, fisheries, environment, transport, financial control, and noted that further efforts still have to be made in areas such as, telecommunications and information technologies, social policy and employment, regional policy and the co-ordination of structural instruments.

In the field of justice and home affairs, the Association Council welcomed Latvia's efforts in visa policy, in the up grading of law-enforcement bodies and on border control. It noted that alignment needs to be completed for asylum and migration, and several international conventions still need to be acceded to.

The Association Council noted the positive achievements by Latvia in building up its administration in certain areas of the "acquis", and encouraged Latvia to continue efforts towards the strengthening of its administrative capacity, including the allocation of adequate resources to the relevant institutions.

3.  The Association Council noted that the implementation of the Europe Agreement is running smoothly and that no significant trade problems have been reported.

The Association Council welcomed the implementation as of 1st July 2000, by means of reciprocal autonomous measures, of the result of the negotiations for further bilateral agricultural trade concessions. It noted that negotiations on further bilateral concessions for processed agricultural goods, as well as for fish and fisheries products, had been completed at technical level.

The Association Council welcomed Latvia's participation, according to the provisions of the relevant Association Council decisions, in the following Community programmes: Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Youth, SAVE as well as the Fifth Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration. The Association Council also noted that negotiations concerning Latvia's participation in the European Environment Agency have been completed, and that following ratification and entry into force of the agreement Latvia will become a member of the Agency.

The Association Council acknowledged the substantial contribution of the PHARE programme to the development of Latvia. It noted the substantial increase of pre-accession aid to Latvia and other applicant countries from 2000 and welcomed the indicative allocations made for Latvia under the new programmes providing aid for agricultural and rural development (SAPARD) and structural policies (ISPA).

In addition, the Association Council underlined the valuable contribution of the European Investment Bank in financing the development of all productive sectors of the economy.

4.  The Association Council exchanged views on some international issues of common interest. It emphasized the importance of regional co-operation as a means of fostering stability and good neighborly relations and noted with satisfaction the Latvian contribution in regional co?operation initiatives. It particularly welcomed Latvia's involvement in the Northern Dimension of EU policies and to this effect its contribution to the preparation of the Luxembourg Ministerial Conference scheduled for 9 April as well as its participation in the Conference itself.

5.  In conclusion, the Association Council expressed confidence in the development of relations within the Europe Agreement and emphasized the crucial role it is further called on to play until Latvia's accession to the European Union.

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