Relations between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean need to take a qualitative step forward, said the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) on Wednesday 7 June. This reinvigorated partnership should make it possible to reaffirm certain universal values and promote peace in these turbulent times, they hope, in a joint communication that opens the debate ahead of the EU/CELAC summit on 17 and 18 July in Brussels.
In the absence of innovative ideas, the Europeans suggest gradually formalising diplomatic relations with their Latin American counterparts and implementing as soon as possible issues that have sometimes been open for 20 years, such as the trade agreement with the Mercosur countries.
Although the partnership between the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean has always been positive, “sometimes this partnership was taken for granted, or even neglected”, noted the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell. However, since the start of the current legislature, “contacts have multiplied”, he said, listing his five trips to the region since 2019, in addition to that of the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, next week.
On the political front, the Commission and the EEAS want to return to holding summits between heads of state or government every two years. In June 2015, in Brussels, the last EU/CELAC summit had already emphasised the importance of a relationship between equals to tackle global challenges such as climate change (see EUROPE 11333/1).
This time, the EU institution and body are putting forward the idea of a “permanent coordination mechanism” to ensure joint monitoring of the bilateral relationship, organise sectoral dialogues and react in the event of an emergency, as might have been the case with the outbreak of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
This mechanism, which would meet once or twice a year, would make up for the absence of a secretariat at CELAC level and would contribute to the emergence of an “institutional memory”, according to a senior European official on Tuesday.
Mr Borrell enumerated the values and principles - democracy, a rules-based international order - that Europeans, Latin Americans and Caribbean nations are defending together. Asked about divergent positions on the war in Ukraine, he did not deny the existence of disagreements, but said that condemnation of Russian aggression had been “stronger” in Latin America than elsewhere in the world.
Deepening commercial relations
The renewal of the EU’s relations with Latin America and the Caribbean inevitably involves trade and investment, insisted the Executive Vice-President responsible for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis.
The EU is the biggest investor in the region and bilateral trade has increased by 40% since 2018 thanks to the free trade agreements in force. But it’s time to go further, according to Mr Dombrovskis.
Josep Borrell agrees. “Decisive progress on pending trade agreements has to be done”, he insisted.
In its communication, the Commission and the EEAS take stock of existing trade agreements, those under review and those to be finalised. The EU hopes to sign the EU/Chile agreement this year, once the translation and legal review work has been completed (see EUROPE 13106/28).
With regard to the agreement with Mercosur, “progress” is expected, but the prospect of finalising negotiations by the time of the EU/CELAC summit seems remote. “If all elements fall in place, that’s within reach. But in any case, we see the EU CELAC as an important milestone and an important opportunity to mobilise political support for this agreement”, explained Mr Dombrovskis.
The EU is currently awaiting Mercosur’s (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) response to its proposal for an additional instrument on the environment designed to convince hesitant EU countries, such as Austria and France, without reopening the text agreed on in June 2019 (see EUROPE 12286/3). The Commission hopes to have news in the second half of June.
The signing and ratification of the modernisation of the EU/Mexico agreement should also take place as soon as possible, according to the Commission.
Finally, the new European agenda identifies as a priority action the ratification of agreements with the Andean Community (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) and Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama).
Through these partnerships, the EU hopes to gain access to more supplies of critical raw materials, which are crucial if the climate transition is to succeed. The EU will shortly be signing two partnerships on raw materials with Chile and Argentina (see EUROPE 13177/15).
According to a second source, the partnership with Chile will be beneficial for both parties, allowing Chile to move away from its traditional model as a simple extractive country and enabling the Europeans to include sustainability and non-discrimination clauses in their access to resources.
Latin American and Caribbean countries wishing to do so will also be able to join the future ‘Raw Materials Club’, which, by bringing together resource-rich and consumer countries, will enable value chains to be developed as close as possible to the countries that extract them.
This commercial agenda is complemented by a new programme of direct investment through the Global Gateway strategy, which this year will focus on Latin America and the Caribbean (see EUROPE 13132/21). Plans include the extension of the Bella fibre-optic submarine cable to link Central America and the Caribbean, and the creation of two Copernicus regional centres in Panama and Chile.
We will mobilise public authorities to “create a leverage effect and attract private investment” said the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen.
The importance of creating new opportunities to strengthen ties between people on both sides of the Atlantic, especially young people, of combating social inequalities and of promoting the integration of women, indigenous populations and LGBTIQ+ people is also highlighted. The launch of a new EUROsociAL programme and the increased participation of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the Horizon Europe programme should contribute to this.
See the communication from the Commission and the EEAS: https://aeur.eu/f/7ay (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Léa Marchal)