Ecuador is an important partner in Latin America and relations are conducted both bilaterally and in the framework of regional cooperation between the EU and the Andean Community. EU relations with Ecuador are governed by the regional Framework Cooperation Agreement of 1993. This was updated and strengthened with the signature of the regional Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement in December 2003, which is still pending ratification. Dialogue also takes place within the framework of the institutional relations between the EU and the Rio Group.

In 2009, following invitations from the Ecuadorian Government and the electoral authorities, the European Commission deployed a European Union Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Ecuador to observe the general elections of 26 April.

The EU earmarked € 137 million in its Country Strategy Paper [734 KB] and defined as priority sectors the improvement of the governmental social spending in education and the promotion of sustainable economic opportunities by supporting the development of SMEs. The mid-term review [378 KB] (and summary [35 KB] ) of the CSP has been adopted.

Ecuador enjoys privileged market access to the EU through the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP Plus) scheme.