Cuba will be an exception in European foreign policy. Foreign ministers of the European Union on Monday gave a mandate to the European Commission to start negotiating a political settlement with the regime of Raul Castro, a move that marks the beginning of the thaw in relations between the two territories. After years of discussions, the ministers unanimously approved the beginning of the dialogue, which allows Brussels to lift the ban imposed on Cuba in 1996 by the government of José MarÃ_a Aznar.
With this measure, the EU executive can openly negotiate with the regime to sign a bilateral agreement governing the dialogue, trade agreements, cooperation and any other item of interest to both parties, explain various diplomatic sources. So far, the European Union had no channel of communication with the Cuban government, as it is governed by the so-called common position: a diplomatic tool that conditioned any semblance of dialogue to advance human rights on the island. In practice this meant a crash in relations between Brussels and Havana unknown in any other State. Cuba is the only country that is governed by the so-called common position, the Commission explains, a stigma that will decay if the negotiation reaches fruition.
Currently, the countries keep waiting to see how negotiations develop. It has ensured that some have demanded reluctant to open dialogue with the island (including Germany, Czech Republic and Poland) to give its approval to the process countries. These countries have demanded that the European Union supervise at all times respect granted Cuba for human rights, an issue that European diplomacy eludes narrow tracks not to give the regime what your concerns are. Member countries monitor there measures to promote freedom of expression and other fundamental freedoms, not to repress the opposition, that justice is independent or guarantee access to the Internet, among other things.
That same lack of specificity applies to the other elements to be negotiated with the island. The Commission kept secret guidelines to guide the dialogue, although diplomatic sources suggest that this is generally to provide a framework of legal certainty to the relationship that members want to establish with Cuba (and many already have but actually contravenes the position common). With opening signals that broadcasts the regime, the EU does not want to get out of an area that can provide beneficial opportunities for both investment.
There may also be improvements in trade relations, though a member of magnitude less than the investment. The agreement will also allow greater European cooperation with the island, which is now almost testimonial. Since cooperation in 2008, Cuba has received only 80 million euros in total for development projects resumed, EU sources say.
Negotiation can take about a year, according to unofficial estimates, although this process managers are optimistic about the outcome. The European Union has tried many times in the past to break the blockade Cuba governing with no result. It was never as now, to open a box that had broad political aim to break the common position established by the government of José MarÃ_a Aznar, and supported by the rest - in 1996. After many rounds of discussion, the foreign ministers on Monday will approve the measure without debate.
Tags: approved, Cuba, EU, relations, thaw