The European Union is not seeking a programme of democratic reforms from Cuba as part of talks for a deal to normalise relations, European sources said as a new round of discussions got under way in Brussels Tuesday.
The EU suspended relations with Havana in 2003 over a crackdown on journalists and activists, but both sides are now pushing a new accord since a historic rapprochement between US and Cuba.
"We are currently negotiating a framework agreement, not an agreement on precise definitions or a reform programme" in the communist island nation, a European source close to the negotiations said.
"The EU and Cuba have different economic, political and social visions."
During this sixth round of talks since the process started last year, the EU and Cuba are hoping to build on "substantial progress" in previous discussions on both sides of the Atlantic, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"I hope to come out of these talks with the sense of a possible conclusion in the near future," and hopefully in early 2016, added the source.
But hopes of a deal by the end of the year appear out of the question.
The EU moved to accelerate the process of normalising relations, which began in April 2014, after Havana and Washington announced a historic detente last December and reopened embassies in July 2015.
Cuba has been pushing the EU to scrap its nearly 20-year "common position," which makes restoring European ties with the island contingent on democratic reforms, but has now effectively been suspended pending the outcome of the normalisation talks.
The European Union is not seeking a programme of democratic reforms from Cuba as part of talks for a deal to normalise relations, European sources said as a new round of discussions got under way in Brussels Tuesday.
The EU suspended relations with Havana in 2003 over a crackdown on journalists and activists, but both sides are now pushing a new accord since a historic rapprochement between US and Cuba.
“We are currently negotiating a framework agreement, not an agreement on precise definitions or a reform programme” in the communist island nation, a European source close to the negotiations said.
“The EU and Cuba have different economic, political and social visions.”
During this sixth round of talks since the process started last year, the EU and Cuba are hoping to build on “substantial progress” in previous discussions on both sides of the Atlantic, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I hope to come out of these talks with the sense of a possible conclusion in the near future,” and hopefully in early 2016, added the source.
But hopes of a deal by the end of the year appear out of the question.
The EU moved to accelerate the process of normalising relations, which began in April 2014, after Havana and Washington announced a historic detente last December and reopened embassies in July 2015.
Cuba has been pushing the EU to scrap its nearly 20-year “common position,” which makes restoring European ties with the island contingent on democratic reforms, but has now effectively been suspended pending the outcome of the normalisation talks.
