The European Commission expresses its satisfaction for the return to dialogue between the two parties, following over a year of interruption. The discussions reflected the willingness of both parties to reach an evenly balanced agreement and it enabled progress to be made on certain substantive issues which had proved to be difficult in the past, namely the relevant human rights clause.

Both parties had the opportunity to present the recent developments in their respective fisheries policies and share the common view of using the fisheries agreement to strengthen the national capacity to promote sustainable and responsible fisheries in Gabonese waters.

At the end of this third round of negotiations, certain points still remain open, but both parties are confident that these problems may be resolved relatively quickly. Therefore, the next meeting has been set to take place in Brussels on 22 to 24 April 2013.