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D-MX: Delegation to the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee

The European Parliament cultivates relations with Mexico through its Delegation to the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee (D-MX).

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is an inter-parliamentary forum created jointly by the European Parliament and the Mexican Congress in 2005.

The European Parliament's D-MX delegation, composed of 14 members, makes up half the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The other half is made up of another 14-member delegation from the Mexican Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

The work of the JPC has been of vital importance for the implementation of the bilateral agreement between the EU and Mexico -- the "Global Agreement" (officially, the "Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement") signed in Brussels on 8 December 1997.

The JPC has also ensured that a lively and constructive political dialogue continues between the two partners.

Delegation chair and membership

The Delegation to the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee is currently chaired by Massimiliano Smeriglio, an Italian member of the European Parliament's Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). He is supported by two vice-chairs: Clara Aguilera (S&D, ES) and Jessica Polfjärd (EPP, SV).

In addition to its 14 full members, the delegation counts 14 substitute members. All are nominated by the European Parliament's political groups, with the political makeup of the delegation mirroring that of Parliament as a whole.

While the D-MX delegation's primary focus is participating in the Joint Parliamentary Committee, delegation members also meet regularly in Brussels or Strasbourg, without their Mexican counterparts, to discuss relevant issues.

Focus

One of the principal topics in recent delegation discussions has been the renewal of the EU-Mexico agreement.

In 2013, at a summit of the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the EU and Mexico decided to investigate the possibility of updating their bilateral agreement.

Three years later, in May 2016, the EU and Mexico launched negotiations to modernise the agreement, including its rules on trade. Several rounds of negotiations have been held to date.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee

The status of negotiations is also a topic of primary interest for the EU-Mexico Joint Parliamentary Committee.
The Committee meets once or twice a year, in venues alternating between Mexico and the EU.

The "Bureau" of the Committee - its chairs and vice-chairs - also holds one or two meetings a year to plan the joint activities for the next semester and define topics to be discussed at the next meeting.

At the Joint Parliamentary Committee's meetings, subjects related to the three sections of the EU-Mexico agreement (trade, political dialogue and cooperation) are raised and debated, together with other topics decided through a common agreement of the European and the Mexican Delegations.

After each Committee meeting, a "Joint Declaration" is adopted to reflect the members' positions on a variety of issues. The Declaration contains recommendations for other EU-Mexico joint structures.