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Delegation to the EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee (D-CL)

The Delegation to the EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee, abbreviated as D-CL, was created by a resolution of the European Parliament on 10 March 2004.

The decision split up the former "Delegation for relations with the countries of South America and Mercosur", which covered the Andean countries - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, which was then part of the Andean Community - as well as Chile and the countries in Mercosur: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Three new delegations were created: The Delegation for relations with the countries of the Andean Community, the Delegation for relations with Mercosur and the Delegation to the EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The decision to create a dedicated delegation for Chile reflected the importance the EU gave strategic relations with the country.

In 2002, the strategic relationship had resulted in the signing of the EU-Chile Association Agreement.

EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee

Article 9 of the Association Agreement describes the establishment of an EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee, which "shall consist of members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of members of the Chilean National Congress (Congreso Nacional de Chile), on the other".

The Joint Parliamentary Committee has been mandated to examine all aspects relating to the application of the Association Agreement. The Committee should submit recommendations to the other bodies created by the agreement, notably the Association Council and the Association Committee, as well as to the bilateral summits.

The EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee meets at least once a year, alternating between Santiago de Chile and the EU.

Modernising the Association Agreement

In recent years, the work of the delegation has focused on the talks between the EU and Chile to modernise the EU-Chile Association Agreement.

The scoping exercise for the negotiations was concluded in spring 2017, and negotiations started shortly afterwards. A number of negotiation rounds have taken place since then, focusing on different elements of the three pillars of the agreement: political relations, cooperation and trade.
On 14 September 2017, the European Parliament adopted a report by Inmaculada Rodríguez-Piñero Fernández (S&D, Spain) on the "Modernisation of the trade pillar of the EU-Chile Association Agreement", outlining the Parliament's recommendations for the upcoming negotiations.

Furthermore, on 13 June 2018, the European Parliament adopted a recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the negotiations on the modernisation of the EU-Chile Association Agreement.

The negotiations on a modernised agreement concluded on 9 December 2022 and the new text, called "Advanced Framework Agreement EU-Chile" (AFA), was signed by the negotiating parties on 13 December 2023. On 29 February 2024, the European Parliament gave consent to the EU's conclusion of the AFA, which has two parts: i) political dialogue and cooperation; and ii) trade and investment. As the AFA falls under shared competence, ratification by each EU Member State is also required. Parliament also voted on giving consent to conclusion of an interim trade agreement (iTA), as the trade and investment provisions of the AFA fall under the EU's exclusive competence. The iTA will apply until the AFA's ratification is completed.