In 1993 the European Union and Central America signed a Framework Cooperation Agreement. This agreement entered into force on 01 March 1999. At the May 2002 EU-Latin American Summit the EU and six Central American countries -- Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama -- agreed to negotiate a new Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed on 15 December 2003 in Rome.
The EU and Central American countries reiterated their goal of concluding an Association Agreement including a free trade area, in the EU-Latin America Summit in May 2004 in Guadalajara, Mexico, and in May 2005 at the EU-Central America Ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, at which Ministers welcomed the launching of a joint assessment exercise on regional economic integration and the setting up of an ad hoc joint working group in January 2005. The goal of concluding a comprehensive Association Agreement was reaffirmed at the EU-Central America summit held in Vienna, Austria in May 2006. The negotiations for the Association Agreement were launched on 28 June 2007 in Brussels. The first round took place in San Jose, Costa Rica on 22-26 October 2007. On 25-29 February 2008, Central America and the EU concluded the second round of negotiations in Brussels, Belgium. The third round of negotiations took place in El Salvador on 14 April 2008.
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