BRUSSELS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission (EC) proposed establishing a Strategic Partnership with Mexico to significantly upgrade bilateral relations, an EC news release said Tuesday.

    The proposal was presented to the European Union (EU) Council and the European Parliament, the release said.

    The Strategic Partnership would provide a strong political framework to enhance dialogue and coordination between the EU and Mexico on global, regional and bilateral issues, under the proposal.

    "Our relationship with Mexico has been growing and deepening in the last decades and Mexico has become one of our important partners not only in Central and Latin America but also on the global scale," European Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner said.

    With the Strategic Partnership, "we will have the right framework to translate the political dialogue that we already enjoy in political and security issues, environment and energy security and in socio-economic issues into a more effective instrument for the coordination of positions not only on bilateral questions but also on global issues of mutual concern," she added.

    "I am convinced that this Strategic Partnership will lead us to a new mutual sensitivity, that will allow us to pay due attention to our respective interests and concerns in bilateral and multilateral issues," the commissioner said.

    Mindful that Mexico is a significant political, economic and cultural player in Latin America and "its role in global issues is expected to grow with time," the Commission has highlighted political, security, environment and energy security, and socio-economic issues as areas for further coordination.

    Political issues include multilateralism, democracy, human rights, rule of law, cultural dialogue, Latin America, regional integration and the Rio Group, according to the news release.

    The fight against terrorism, organized crime, drug and human trafficking are among the security issues.

    Environmental and energy security issues are climate change, natural disasters and the fight against over-exploitation of fish stocks.

    Socio-economic issues include development policy, investment and social responsibility, innovation and intellectual property rights, open markets, social policies, decent work/social protection, migration, poverty, global macro-financial stability, good governance in the tax area, energy security, sustainability and improved efficiency, food prices, fisheries, maritime policy and ocean governance, and transport issues of common interest.

    The executive arm of the EU has also proposed holding an EU-Mexico summit every two years.

    The Commission will now present the proposal to the EU member states (the Council) and the European Parliament. Once this is adopted by them, the content of the Strategic Partnership will be discussed with Mexico.

    The EU and Mexico have developed political dialogue on issues of mutual interest since they signed the EU-Mexico Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement in 1997, which entered into force in 2000.