Prime Minister Janez Jansa has said the EU received assurances from Mexico that it will be an important ally of the EU in finding a sustainable post-Kyoto agreement for tackling climate change.
"Mexico came to this meeting with concrete proposals and a very good understanding of the issue," Jansa to the Slovenian press on Saturday, after completing meetings with regional associations on the second and final day of the summit of the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean in Lima.
According to the Slovenian prime minister, who is the incumbent president of the EU Council, Mexico's approach is very similar to that of the EU, which is leading a global effort to reach a post-Kyoto agreement with ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Jansa added that the meetings with the Andean Community, Chile, Mexico, Mercosur, Central America and Cariforum have given the EU an incentive to consolidate its global lead in fighting climate change.
"We heard some very disturbing stories from the leaders of the Caribbean about the consequences for their countries if the current trends should continue," Jansa said.
The meetings with the regional associations followed the plenary session on Friday at which the 60 countries focused on ways to tackled climate change and poverty.
Today's meetings - where the EU delegation was led by Jansa and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso - were an attempt to build on the measures agreed in the region-wide talks, said the Slovenian prime minister.
He added that an important theme of the subregional talks, or the mini summits, were trade and association agreements which the EU is looking to conclude with the associations.
"Talks with associations that are divided, such as the Andean Community, have been the most difficult," he said. However, he announced that there had been a convergence of views in the Andean Community and that efforts would now be made to build on this.
Jansa explained that the goal was to reach an agreement with the Andean Community as a group rather than with individual countries, although he allowed room for individual agreements if efforts were to stall again.
The EU has already signed association agreements with Chile and Mexico, while talks are also underway with Central America.
The two-day summit in Lima is the biggest event during Slovenia's stint as EU presidency in the first half of 2008. While Peru was in charge of hosting the meeting, Slovenia was tasked with preparing the agenda.
Ahead of Saturday's meetings, Jansa said that the summit had showed that Latin America appreciates the EU for its "wealth of best practices" and would like to benefit from the transfer of knowledge and technology.
According to him, the wishes of Latin America "balanced those of the EU", which promoted the tearing down of trade barriers at the event.
The two-day event produced a declaration from the leaders calling for the two regions to strengthen their partnership in dealing with key global issues.
Apart from agreeing to step up efforts to tackle climate change and eradicate poverty, the leaders also expressed "deep concern" with soaring food prices.
The Lima Declaration says that immediate measures are "needed to assist the most vulnerable countries" in dealing with soaring food prices.
It adds that a lasting answer to the issue required coordinated action from the international community aimed at raising agricultural capacities and rural development to meet growing demand.
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