MERCOSUR signed a frame agreement of inter-regional association, political cooperation and coordination with the European Union, on December 15, 1995; a free trade agreement with Chile that is in effective as of October 1, 1996; a free trade agreement with Bolivia that was put in effect in March 1997; a frame agreement with the Andean Community to negotiate a free trade zone; and a frame agreement of commerce and investment with the Centro American Common Market signed on April 18, 1998. At present, MERCOSUR negotiates with 30 other countries of the hemisphere the creation of a free trade area of the Americas (ALCA), which will be formed in 2005.