EU Foreign Ministers have agreed on the need to renew and strengthen ties with Latin America and the Caribbean at a time when the bi-regional relationship has been damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic and now by the priority given to the European response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In particular, they decided to respond positively to the invitation of the Argentinean Presidency of CELAC to meet with Latin American and Caribbean counterparts in October in Buenos Aires.
This meeting is “an opportunity to prepare a summit for the second half of 2023” under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, said the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, on Monday 18 July, at the end of the ‘Foreign Affairs’ Council. He pointed out the importance for Europeans to realise that China has become a very important partner in the region. “There are gaps that are being filled”, he said.
Referring to “a roadmap for reformulating the bi-regional relationship” based on “common values”, the Spanish Minister, José Manuel Albares Bueno, promised that Latin America and the Caribbean, “the most ‘Euro-compatible’ region”, will be one of the central elements of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council.
The last EU/CELAC summit took place in Brussels in June 2015 (see EUROPE 11333/1).
The Portuguese Minister, João Gomes Cravinho. reported on an “informal reflection document” on EU-Latin America relations initiated by his country and supported by some 15 Member States. “Our action in the world cannot be determined solely on the basis of what is happening in Ukraine”, he said, arguing that the blockages in finalising trade agreements with certain countries – Mexico, Chile – or regions – Mercosur – of the Latin American subcontinent could not hold back other fundamental aspects of the EU/CELAC relationship in areas such as “climate and digital transitions, biodiversity or the fight against social injustice”.
Europe needs to be more present in Latin America and this means trade, the High Representative said. According to him, the ministers called for “unblocking” the ratification of the modernisation of the association and free trade agreements with Chile and Mexico, the latter having been finalised “4 years ago”.
This issue is also one of the priorities of the current Czech Presidency of the EU Council for the coming months (see EUROPE 12992/25).
In the case of Chile, the EU is waiting for the outcome of the referendum in September on the country’s new constitution before moving forward. For the agreement with Mercosur, it is a different story. Work is still underway to add environmental protection elements to the agreement negotiated and concluded in 2019, so the situation is “more complex”, Josep Borrell recalled. That is why the agreements with Mexico and Chile are more in the spotlight at the moment and there is no reluctance among the Member States, he confirmed. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Léa Marchal)