4. The Parties furthermore agree to cooperate and to contribute to the objective of non-proliferation by:
(a) taking steps to sign, ratify or accede to, as appropriate, and fully implement and comply with all other relevant international instruments;
(b) establishing an effective system of national export controls controlling the export as well as transit of weapons of mass destruction related goods, including weapons of mass destruction end-use control on dual-use technologies and containing effective sanctions for breaches of export controls.
5. The Parties agree to establish a regular political dialogue that will accompany and consolidate their cooperation in this area.
Article 16. Fight Against Terrorism
1. The Parties reaffirm the importance of the fight against terrorism and, in accordance with international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law, relevant international conventions and instruments, the relevant United Nations resolutions and their respective legislation and regulations, and the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy contained in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/288 of 8 September 2006, agree to cooperate in the prevention and suppression of acts of terrorism.
2. They shall do so in particular:
(a) in the framework of full implementation of international conventions and instruments, including all relevant United Nations General Assembly resolutions and United Nations Security Council resolutions;
(b) by exchange of information on terrorist groups and their support networks, in accordance with international and national law;
(c) by cooperating on the means and methods used to counter terrorism, including in technical fields and training, and by exchange of experience in terrorism prevention and in the area of protection in the fight against terrorism;
(d) through exchanges of views on legislative frameworks and best practices, as well as technical and administrative assistance;
(e) through exchange of information in accordance with their respective legislation;
(f) by technical assistance and training on methods of investigation, information technology, design of protocols on prevention, alerts and effective response to terrorist threats or acts; and
(g) through exchanges of views on prevention models related to other illicit activities linked to terrorism, such as money laundering, trafficking of firearms, identity document forgery and human trafficking, among others.
Article 17. Serious Crimes of International Concern
1. The Parties reaffirm that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole should not go unpunished and that their prosecution should be ensured by measures at either the domestic or international level, as appropriate, including the International Criminal Court.
2. The Parties consider that the establishment and effective functioning of the International Criminal Court constitutes an important development for international peace and justice and that the Court represents an effective instrument to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole when national courts are not willing or able to do so, given the International Criminal Court's complementarity to national criminal jurisdiction.
3. The Parties agree to cooperate to promote universal adherence to the Rome Statute by:
(a) continuing to take steps to implement the Rome Statute and to ratify and implement related instruments (such as the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court);
(b) sharing experience with regional partners in the adoption of legal adjustments required to allow for the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute; and
(c) taking measures to safeguard the integrity of the Rome Statute.
4. It remains the sovereign decision of every State to decide the most appropriate moment to adhere to the Statute of Rome.
Article 18. Finance for Development
1. The Parties agree to support international efforts to promote policies and regulations to finance development and to strengthen cooperation in order to achieve internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the commitments of the Monterrey Consensus and other related fora.
2. For this purpose, and with the objective to foster more inclusive societies, the Parties recognise the need to develop new and innovative financial mechanisms.
Article 19. Migration
1. The Parties reaffirm the importance that they attach to a joint management of migration flows between their territories. Recognising that poverty is one of the root causes of migration and with a view to strengthening cooperation between them, they shall establish a comprehensive dialogue on all migration-related issues, including irregular migration, refugee flows, smuggling and trafficking of human beings, as well as the inclusion of migration concerns, including brain drain, in the national strategies for economic and social development of the areas from which migrants originate, also taking into consideration the historic and cultural linkages existing between both regions.
2. The Parties agree to ensure the effective enjoyment, protection and promotion of human rights for all migrants and the principles of fairness and transparency in the equal treatment of migrants, and stress the importance of fighting against racism, discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance.
Article 20. Environment
1. The Parties shall promote a dialogue in the areas of environment and sustainable development by exchanging information and encouraging initiatives on local and global environmental issues, recognising the principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities, as set forth in the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.
2. This dialogue shall be aimed, inter alia, at fighting the threat of climate change, biodiversity conservation, the protection and sustainable management of forests to, inter alia, reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, the protection of hydro and marine resources, basins and wetlands, the research and development of alternative fuels and renewable energy technologies and the reform of environmental governance in view of increasing its efficiency.
Article 21. Citizen Security
The Parties shall dialogue on citizen security, which is fundamental to promote human development, democracy, good governance, and respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. They acknowledge that citizen security transcends national and regional borders, and therefore requires the impulse of a broader dialogue and cooperation on this matter.
Article 22. Good Governance In the Tax Area
With a view to strengthening and developing economic activities while taking into account the need to develop an appropriate regulatory framework, the Parties recognise and commit to common and internationally agreed principles of good governance in the tax area.
Article 23. Common Economic-financial Credit Fund
1. The Parties agree on the importance to reinforce efforts in order to reduce poverty and support the development of Central America, in particular its poorest areas and populations.
2. Therefore, the Parties agree to negotiate the creation of a Common Economic and Financial mechanism including, among others, the intervention of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Latin American Investment Facility (LAIF) and technical assistance by the regional Central American cooperation programme. This mechanism shall assist in the reduction of poverty, promote development and the integral well-being of Central America, as well as give impulse to the socio-economic growth and the furthering of a balanced relationship between both regions.
3. For this purpose, a bi-regional working group has been established. The mandate of this group shall be to examine the creation of such mechanism as well as the modalities of its functioning.
Part III. COOPERATION
Article 24. Objectives
1. The general objective of cooperation is to support the implementation of this Agreement in order to reach an effective partnership between the two regions by facilitating resources, mechanisms, tools and procedures.
2. Priority shall be given to the following objectives, which are further developed in Titles I to IX of this Part:
(a) strengthening peace and security;
(b) contributing to reinforcing democratic institutions, good governance and full applicability of the rule of law, gender equality, all forms of non-discrimination, cultural diversity, pluralism, promotion and respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, transparency and citizen participation;
(c) contributing to social cohesion through the alleviation of poverty, inequality, social exclusion and all forms of discrimination so as to improve the quality of life for the peoples of Central America and the European Union;
(d) promoting economic growth with a view to furthering sustainable development, reducing the imbalances between and within the Parties and developing synergies between the two regions;
(e) deepening the process of regional integration in Central America by strengthening the capacity to implement and use the benefits of this Agreement, thereby contributing to the economic, social and political development of the Central American region as a whole;
(f) reinforcing production and management capacities and enhancing competitiveness, thereby opening up trade and investment opportunities for all the economic and social players in the two regions.
3. The Parties shall pursue policies and measures with a view to attaining the objectives referred to above. These measures may include innovative financial mechanisms with the objective of contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development objectives, in conformity with the commitments of the Monterrey Consensus and subsequent fora.
Article 25. Principles
Cooperation between the Parties shall be governed by the following principles:
(a) cooperation shall support and be complementary to the efforts of the associated countries and regions to implement the priorities set by their own development policies and strategies, without prejudice to the activities carried out with their civil society;
(b) cooperation shall be the result of a dialogue between the associated countries and regions;
(c) the Parties shall promote participation of civil society and local authorities in their development policies and in their cooperation;
(d) cooperation activities shall be established both at national and regional level complementing one another so as to support the general and specific objectives set out in this Agreement;
(e) cooperation shall take into account cross-cutting issues such as democracy and human rights, good governance, indigenous peoples, gender, environment - including natural disasters - and regional integration;
(f) the Parties shall enhance the effectiveness of their cooperation by operating within mutually agreed frameworks. They shall promote harmonisation, alignment and coordination between donors and the fulfilment of mutual obligations linked to the achievement of cooperation activities;
(g) cooperation includes technical and financial assistance as a means to contribute to the implementation of the objectives of this Agreement;
(h) the Parties agree on the importance to take into consideration their different levels of development in the design of cooperation activities;
(i) the Parties agree on the importance of continuing to support poverty reduction policies and strategies of middle-income countries, with a special attention to lower middle-income countries;
(j) cooperation in the framework of this Agreement does not affect the participation of the Republics of the CA Party, as developing countries, in the EU Party's activities in the field of research for development or other European Union development cooperation programmes addressed to third countries, subject to the rules and procedures of these programmes.
Article 26. Modalities and Methodology
1. In order to implement cooperation activities, the Parties agree that:
(a) instruments may include a large scope of bilateral, horizontal or regional activities, such as programmes and projects, including infrastructure projects, budget support, sectoral policy dialogue, exchange and transfer of equipment, studies, impact assessments, statistics and data bases, exchanges of experience and experts, training, communication and awareness raising campaigns, seminars and publications;
(b) implementing actors may comprise local, national and regional authorities, civil society and international organisations;
(c) they shall provide the appropriate administrative and financial resources necessary to ensure the implementation of the activities of cooperation that they will have agreed in accordance with their own laws, regulations and procedures;
(d) all entities involved in cooperation shall be subject to a transparent and accountable management of resources;
(e) they shall promote innovative cooperation and finance modalities and instruments in order to improve the efficiency of cooperation and to make the best use of this Agreement;
(f) cooperation between the Parties shall identify and develop innovative cooperation programmes for the Republics of the CA Party;
(g) they shall encourage and facilitate private financing and direct foreign investment, in particular through funding of the European Investment Bank in Central America in line with its own procedures and financial criteria;
(h) the participation of each Party as an associated partner in framework programmes, specific programmes and other activities of the other Party shall be promoted in accordance with their own rules and procedure;
(i) the participation of the Republics of the CA Party to the EU Party's thematic and horizontal cooperation programmes for Latin America shall be promoted, including by means of possible specific windows;
(j) the Parties, in accordance with their own rules and procedures, shall promote triangular cooperation in areas of common interest between the two regions and with third countries;
(k) the Parties should explore together all practical possibilities for cooperation in their mutual interest.
2. The Parties agree to foster, according to their needs and within the framework of their respective programmes and legislation, cooperation between financial institutions.
Article 27. Evolutionary Clause
1. The fact that an area or cooperation activity has not been included in this Agreement shall not be interpreted as an impediment for the Parties to decide, in accordance with their respective legislations, to cooperate in those areas or activities.
2. No opportunities for cooperation shall be ruled out in advance. The Parties may use the Association Committee to explore practical possibilities for cooperation in their mutual interest.
3. As regards the implementation of this Agreement, the Parties may make suggestions designed to expand cooperation in all areas, taking into account the experience acquired during the implementation thereof.
Article 28. Statistics Cooperation
1. The Parties agree to cooperate in order to develop better statistical methods and programmes according to internationally accepted standards, including gathering, processing, quality control and dissemination of statistics, aimed at generating indicators with enhanced comparability between the Parties, thus enabling the Parties to use each other's statistics on trade in goods and services, foreign direct investments and, more generally, any field covered by this Agreement, for which statistics can be drawn up. The Parties acknowledge the usefulness of bilateral cooperation to support these objectives.
2. Cooperation in this field shall also aim at:
(a) the development of a regional statistical system in support of the priorities for regional integration agreed between the Parties;
(b) cooperating in the field of statistics on science, technology and innovation.
3. This cooperation could include, among others: technical exchanges between statistical institutes in the Republics of the CA Party and in the Member States of the European Union and Eurostat, including exchange of scientists; development of improved, and where relevant, consistent methods of data collection, disaggregation, analysis and interpretation; and organisation of seminars, working groups or statistical training programmes.
Title I. Democracy, Human Rights and Good Governance
Article 29. Democracy and Human Rights
1. The Parties shall cooperate to achieve full compliance with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, which are universal, indivisible, inter-related and inter-dependant, as well as the building and strengthening of democracy.
2. Such cooperation may include inter alia:
(a) the effective implementation of the international instruments of human rights, as well as the recommendations emanating from Treaty Bodies and Special Procedures;
(b) the integration of the promotion and protection of human rights in national policies and development plans;
(c) the strengthening of the capacities to apply the democratic principles and practices;
(d) the development and implementation of action plans on democracy and human rights;
(e) awareness raising and education in human rights, democracy and culture of peace;
(f) the strengthening of democratic and human rights-related institutions, as well as the legal and institutional frameworks for the promotion and protection of human rights;
(g) the development of joint initiatives of mutual interest in the framework of relevant multilateral fora.
Article 30. Good Governance
The Parties agree that cooperation in this field shall actively support governments through actions aimed at, in particular:
(a) respecting the rule of law;
(b) guaranteeing the separation of powers;
(c) guaranteeing an independent and efficient judicial system;
(d) promoting transparent, accountable, efficient, stable and democratic institutions;
(e) promoting policies to guarantee accountability and transparent management;
(f) fighting against corruption;
(g) reinforcing good and transparent governance at national, regional and local levels;
(h) establishing and maintaining clear decision making procedures by public authorities at all levels;
(i) supporting the participation of civil society.
Article 31. Modernisation of the State and Public Administration, Including Decentralisation
1. The Parties agree that the objective of cooperation in this field shall be to improve their legal and institutional frameworks, based notably on best practices. This includes reform and modernisation of public administration, including through capacity building, to support and reinforce the processes of decentralisation and to underpin organisational changes resulting from regional integration, paying particular attention to organisational efficiency and to service delivery to citizens, as well as to good and transparent management of public resources and accountability.
2. This cooperation may include national and regional programs and projects aimed at building capacities for policy design, and implementation and evaluation of public policies, as well as reinforcing the judiciary system while fostering the involvement of civil society.
Article 32. Conflict Prevention and Resolution
1. The Parties agree that cooperation in this field shall promote and sustain a comprehensive peace policy, including the prevention and resolution of conflicts. This policy shall be based on the principle of commitment and participation of society and shall focus primarily on developing regional, sub-regional and national capacities. It shall ensure equal political, economic, social and cultural opportunities for all segments of society, reinforce democratic legitimacy, promote social cohesion and an effective mechanism for peaceful conciliation of the interests of different groups, and encourage an active and organised civil society, in particular making use of existing regional institutions.
2. Cooperation shall strengthen capacities to resolve conflicts and may include, among others, the provision of support to mediation, negotiation and reconciliation processes; to strategies promoting peace; to efforts to strengthen confidence and security building on the regional level; to efforts developed to help children, women and elderly people and to actions in the fight against anti-personnel mines.
Article 33. Reinforcement of Institutions and Rule of Law
The Parties shall attach particular importance to the consolidation of the rule of law and the reinforcement of institutions at all levels in the areas of law enforcement and the administration of justice in particular. Cooperation shall notably aim at strengthening the independence of the judiciary and improving its efficiency.
Title II. Justice, Freedom and Security
Article 34. Personal Data Protection
1. The Parties agree to cooperate in order to improve the level of protection of personal data to the highest international standards, such as the Guidelines for the Regulation of Computerised Personal Data Files, modified by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 14th 1990, and to work towards the free movement of personal data between the Parties, with due regard to their domestic legislation.
2. Cooperation on protection of personal data may include, inter alia, technical assistance in the form of exchange of information and expertises taking into account the laws and regulations of the Parties.
Article 35. Illicit Drugs
1. The Parties shall cooperate to ensure a comprehensive, integrated, and balanced approach through effective action and coordination between the competent authorities, including from the health, education, law enforcement, custom services, social, justice and interior sectors with the aim of reducing, to the greatest extent possible, the supply and demand of illicit drugs as well as their impact on drug users and society at large, and in order to achieve control and a more effective prevention of diversion towards chemical precursors used for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including the diversion towards illegal purposes of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific use.
2. Cooperation shall be based on the principle of shared responsibility, relevant international conventions as well as the Political Declaration, the Special Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction and the other main documents adopted by the Twentieth United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in June 1998.
3. Cooperation shall aim to coordinate and increase joint efforts to address the problem of illicit drugs. Without prejudice to other cooperation mechanisms, the Parties agree that, at the inter-regional level, the Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean shall be used for this purpose, and agree to cooperate in view of strengthening its efficiency. 4. The Parties also agree to cooperate against crime related drug trafficking, through increased coordination with relevant international bodies and instances.
5. The Parties shall cooperate to ensure a comprehensive and balanced approach through effective action and coordination between the competent authorities, including the social, justice and interior sectors with the aim to:
(a) exchange points of view regarding legislative schemes and best practices;
(b) fight against the supply, traffic and demand of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
(c) strengthen judicial and police cooperation to combat illicit trafficking;
(d) strengthen maritime cooperation in view of fighting efficiently against trafficking;
(e) establish information and monitoring centres;
(f) define and apply measures to reduce illicit drug trafficking, medical prescriptions (narcotic drugs and psychotropics) and chemical precursors;
(g) set up joint research programmes and projects as well as reciprocal judiciary assistance;
(h) stimulate alternative development, in particular, the promotion of legal crops for small producers;
(i) facilitate training and education of human resources in order to prevent the drug consumption and trafficking, as well as to strengthen administrative control systems;
(j) support youth prevention programs and education inside and outside of school;
(k) strengthen prevention as well as treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration of drug users covering a wide range of modalities, including harm reduction related to drug abuse.
Article 36. Money Laundering, Including the Financing of Terrorism
1. The Parties agree to cooperate in preventing the use of their financial systems and enterprises for laundering proceeds arising from all serious offences and in particular from offences related to illicit drugs and psychotropic substances and related to terrorist acts.
2. This cooperation shall, where relevant, in line with the standards established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), include administrative and technical assistance aimed at the development and implementation of regulations and the efficient functioning of suitable standards and mechanisms. In particular, cooperation shall allow for exchanges of relevant information and for the adoption of appropriate standards to combat money laundering and terrorism financing in accordance with those adopted by the international bodies active in this area, and with best practices used in the international context.
Article 37. Organised Crime and Citizen Security
1. The Parties agree to cooperate in preventing and combating organised and financial crime. To that end, they shall promote and exchange good practices and implement relevant agreed international standards and instruments, such as the United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its supplementing Protocols and the United Nations Convention against corruption. They shall notably encourage witness protection programmes.
2. The Parties also agree to cooperate to improve citizen security, notably through support to security policies and strategies. This cooperation should contribute to crime prevention and could include activities such as regional cooperation projects between police and judicial authorities, training programs, exchanges of best practices for criminal profiling. It shall also comprise, inter alia, exchanges of views on legislative frameworks as well as administrative and technical assistance aimed at strengthening the institutional and operational capabilities of law enforcement authorities.
Article 38. The Fight Against Corruption
1. The Parties recognise the importance of preventing and combating corruption in the private and public sector and reaffirm their concern about the seriousness and threats caused by corruption to the stability and security of democratic institutions. To that end, the Parties shall cooperate in view of implementing and promoting relevant international standards and instruments, such as the United Nations Convention against Corruption.
2. The Parties shall in particular cooperate on:
(a) improving organisational effectiveness and guaranteeing transparent management of public resources and accountability;
(b) strengthening the relevant institutions, including law enforcement authorities and the judiciary;
(c) preventing corruption and bribery in international transactions;
(d) monitoring and evaluation of policies to combat corruption at local, regional, national and international level;
(e) encouraging actions that promote the values of a culture of transparency, legality and a change in people's attitudes to corrupt practices;