When the Agreement was initialled, Mr DE CLERCQ, Member of the Commission with special responsibility for external relations, expressed the view that the conlusion of the Agreement which was the most far-reaching of those planned with the Eastern European countries and went hand in hand with the establishment of diplomatic relations, marked a new stage in relations between Eastern Europe and the Community and confirmed the principle of parallelism underlying those relations.
A cette occasion, Mr Willy DE CLERCQ, Commissaire chargé des Relations Extérieures a estimé : "la finalisation de cet accord, qui est le plus substantiel de ceux envisagé avec les pays de l'Est et qui ira de pair avec l'établissement de relations diplomatiques, constitue une nouvelle étape dans les relations entre ces pays et la Communauté et une confirmation du principe de parallélisme qui sous-tend ces relations.