Brussels, 24/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The third summit between the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean will take place on 28-29 May in Guadalajara in Mexico, under the chairmanship of the Mexican president, Vincente Fox and the president of the European Council, Bertie Ahern. This first external summit with the new Member States on board will in principle bring together 58 Heads of State and Government: 33 Latin American and 25 European.
Social cohesion and multi-lateralism are the two main themes at the meeting. Trade relations between the two continents are, however, expected to dominate the debates just at the very moment when negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur are entering their final phase and where the EU has just presented its new orientations on agriculture for the WTO negotiations. Latin American and Andean countries will attempt to get a date from the European on the opening of negotiations for a trade agreement. The summit will also provide the occasions to examine free trade agreements in force with Mexico (2000) and Chile (2003).
According to the European Commission, most European Heads of State are expected to attend. The president of the Commission, Romano Prodi, will be accompanied by trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, Commissioner for external relations, Chris Patten, and Franz Fischler for agriculture. From the Latin American side, the attendance of Cuban president has been confirmed, following the diplomatic spat that led to Mexico withdrawing its representatives from Havana.
The summit will meet in plenary session on 28 May and at a regional basis for 29 May for the EU and Mercosur, the Andean community, the central American integration system, Chile and Mexico. This will be preceded on 24-25 May with preparatory meetings of "senior civil servants" in charge of the final touches to the draft of the joint declaration. Ministers of foreign affairs will finalises preparations on 27 May. A negotiation meeting between the European Union and Mercosur may take place in a backdrop to the summit.
Bilateral meetings have also been announced in a backdrop to the summit. La Paz announced that Bolivian president Carlos Mesa is expected, for example, to meet his Chilean counterpart Ricardo Lagos, to tackle the issue of Bolivia's free access to the sea, which has see the two countries in disagreement since 1879. Mexican and Mercosur presidents are expected to discuss Mexico's entry perspectives into Mercosur, before the Mercosur summit of 13 July, indicated diplomatic sources in Buenos Aires.
The Guadalajara summit is expected to provide a "clear definition of the strategic alliance between the European Union and Latin America", declared the Mexican Ambassador to the EU, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo. He stated that "at the moment when the European Union is occupied by other concerns, its integration, the constitution, we will be seeing whether it is prepared to consider Latin America as a partner". He added that there was no doubt that there had to be a new balance in the world in which Latin American had to be a part. One of the goals on Latin American countries will be to define at the summit a timetable for a "bi-regional strategic association" up until 2010, as requested by the European Parliament.
Commissioner Chris Patten refuted arguments that the European Union was not interested in the Latin American continent. Addressing a group of journalists, last week in Brussels, he pointed out that during the Commission's current mandate, free trade agreements had been concluded with Mexico and Chile, new cooperation agreements had been signed with Central America and Andean countries, as well as "considerable progress being made with Mercosur". Since the last summit in Madrid in 2002, university grants projects involving information technology had been set up, he stressed. He indicated that despite the limited budget at their disposal, "Latin American aid had increased by 20%" and the Commission had reduced the period of payment appropriations from 8 to 4 years for aid.
With just a few days away from the meeting, the main divergences on the contents of the 15 page or so declaration focus on what the EU is prepared to give Central and Andean America, as well as commitments that Latin American countries are prepared to take regarding social cohesion. With the Iraq crisis still in the background, the two parties are, however, overall, on the same wave length regarding the role of the United Nations in international peace keeping and security. Here are the main lines of debate:
Social cohesion: according to Commissioner Patten, the summit will have to "affirm the desire to move forward on the theme of social exclusion".
Currently, "45% of the population in Latin America live below the poverty line and above all, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider". In a press statement on summit preparations, the Commission pointed out that 60% of income went to 20% of the richest section of the population at the end of the 1990s in Latin America (EUROPE 15 April p 13). Commissioner Chris Patten said that these inequalities had both social and political consequences. "According to a UNDP study, an increasing part of the population would be in favour of authoritarian regimes if they improved living conditions", the Commissioner added. He also averred that economic disparities reduced opportunities for growth and market scale. The Commission is proposing the setting up of an action programme based on strengthening institutions, information exchange between public administrations and a social programme worth EUR 40 million, indicated Mr Patten. According to the latter, it is not up to the European Union to give lessons but rather, to work together on the basic problems.
Ambassador Porfirio Muñoz Ledo said that the EU had adopted policies for reducing disparities in Europe through cohesion and structural funds but that in Latin American the solution still needed to be defined.
European countries have submitted a draft declaration that highlights the responsibility of governments and civil society in the reform process to improve social cohesion on the basis of strategic "national plans". In its communication, the Commission appealed for Latin American countries to make commitments to reforming their tax systems. Last week Commissioner Patten noted that it was abnormal that the middle classes bore the weight for public financing while capital was continuing to escape.
Latin American countries insisted on the shared responsibility" and "fundamental role" of the international community's support. They also hoped that the Guadalajara declaration would explicitly support financial initiatives, such as the creation of an international humanitarian fund and the initiative of the president of France, Jacques Chirac and Brazilian president "Lula" da Silva to set up a work group for development funding. A compromise formula is expected to jointly point out the role of national governments and balanced fiscal policy as well as the commitments made by the international community.
Central and Andean America: the Andean community (Colombia, Bolivia, Equator, Peru and Venezuela) as well as Central American countries (Costa Rica, Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama) are hoping to obtain a commitment from the European Union to begin trade negotiations in January 2005. The Commission, particularly the services of Pascal Lamy will e seeking to discuss, firstly, the integration and end to the Doha round, followed by the opening of negotiations at the Madrid summit in 2005. This could also involve commitments to begin analysing trade as a basis for future negotiations. This formula acted as the anti-chamber preceding negotiations with Mercosur. The EU will be in favour of declaring its support for beginning negotiations "but this will depend on large part on progress of integration" and the conclusion of Doha negotiations, explained Commissioner Patten last week. He also emphasised, in a reference to Andean integration, that they would not be able to inform their own exporters that if they had sales in Colombia they had direct access to the Venezuelan market. France and Germany support the Commission's position at the Council. Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Greece are appealing for a greater opening up.
In their associated appeal, the two regions have, nevertheless, experienced an unequal integration process. Following the years of civil war, the Central American Integration System has experienced a new dimension. Set up in 1993, it recently created a customs union between Salvador and Guatemala. Honduras and Nicaragua are expected to join this year. Now, 92% of tariff lines have been harmonised and regional Heads of State made commitments in December 2003 to lift non-tariff barriers, establish a common customs administration and set up a standardisation policy. A common institutional reform plan has been launched.
Founded in 1969 as the "Andean Pact", the Andean Community is in principle expected to conclude the creation of a common market in 2005. Faced with internal crises in Colombia, Venezuela and Bolivia, the absence of a political will and the lack of economic parity has meant that the process has stalled. Currently, regional trade only represents 10%-12% of internal trade, pointed out the Commission in its communication.
Mercosur: at the summit, the EU and Mercosur are expected to confirm their intention to conclude association and free trade agreements next October (see other article). With just a few days to go till the new negotiations, the Brazilian minister of external trade Luiz Fernando Furian was optimistic and declared to the Reuters agency that "there is a window of opportunity to conclude an agreement in 60 days…Both sides are convinced that we are approaching the possibility of concluding an agreement that will benefit both Mercosur and the European Union". At last week's General Affairs Council, the Spanish foreign affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos stated that "we need to be cautious but there is a significant desire to create an economic and trade area that has a political dimension".