Brussels, 05/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Europeans are hoping that the next summit between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean, in Brussels on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 June, will the opportunity to kickstart bi-regional relations.
The summit will be organised around three specific sessions. In order to demonstrate the health of their bi-regional relations, the participants will highlight concrete projects agreed upon at their first working session - for example, the resolve to stimulate internet traffic between Europe and Latin America by laying a fibre optic cable under the sea. Some of the negotiation partners indeed find the current situation “uncomfortable” whereby internet connections transit the USA, a high level European official commented on Friday 5 June. The opportunities for research and innovation, and student exchanges will also be highlighted.
In addition, the summit will cover the large multi-lateral issues on which the European and Latin American positions are often close. The challenges linked to development policy will thus be tackled, as well as those linked to climate change (with the upcoming UN conference in Paris in December) and to drugs trafficking (special UN session planned in 2016).
Venezuela. Restricted to leaders, a third working session will enable regional or international issues to be raised which the leaders consider important. Even if, officially, the situation in one country in particular is not on the agenda, the Venezuelan political crisis could nevertheless be addressed in this session, said a high level official. On Friday 5 June, the attendance of Venezuela's populist president, Nicolas Maduro, at the EU-CELAC summit was uncertain (see EUROPE 11274 and 11261).
Meeting on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 June, the Euro-Latin American (EuroLat) Parliamentary Assembly failed to adopt a joint statement because of the Venezuelan issue. Spanish socialist Ramon Jauregui spoke of his “deep concern” about the situation in Venezuela, and he called for the release of political prisoners and for early elections.
Of the 60 countries participating in the summit, “around 40” heads of state or government have confirmed their attendance - including from Brazil, Germany, Spain and France. By contrast, Cuba's leader Raul Castro, like Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner, is not expected to attend. However, a new negotiation session between Europe and Cuba will take place in Brussels on 15-16 June, with a view to concluding a cooperation agreement by the end of 2015 (see EUROPE 11300).
Other high level meetings will take place on the sidelines of the EU-CELAC summit. On Thursday 11 June, European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet representatives from the countries of Central America (SICA). One of the issues to be addressed is the security of citizens in countries where violence as part of organised crime continues to create a climate of insecurity. The Europeans will also hold a specific meeting with representatives from the Forum of Caribbean countries. On Friday 12 June, an EU-Mexico summit is expected to be the opportunity for the two parties to express their shared resolve to update the comprehensive 1997 agreement which has governed political and trade links since 2000. This summit is also expected to be the opportunity for Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto to speak about Mexico's strategy to address the security challenge facing his country.
Better EU-Mercosur understanding. The issue of the laborious negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela) will be discussed by the leaders of the countries concerned. “We hope to be able to confirm progress in the talks to re-dynamise the negotiation process”, said a diplomatic source. “We now have a better understanding of what we can do and what we can't. We are closer today on what is possible and what is not”, the source said (see EUROPE 112322 and 11283).
The EU and Mercosur have been negotiating an association agreement (including a free trade agreement) since 1999. After a six-year freeze, talks were relaunched in 2010. The exchange of offers on market access - offers which cover agricultural and industrial products, and also services and government procurement - has still not come about, despite the commitment taken on this at ministerial level in January 2013.
2017. Bolivia wants to organise the next EU-CELAC summit in 2017. Chile, which is in a border conflict with Bolivia, is reportedly reluctant about this idea and is pushing for Honduras to organise the summit.
Several bi-regional civil society meetings have been, or will be, held on the sidelines of the summit - meetings between company heads, media leaders and civil society networks. (Mathieu Bion and Emmanuel Hagry)